McSweeney's Departure Fails to Quell Starmer's Escalating Crisis
During a media appearance yesterday, Pat McFadden – widely considered the cabinet's most sober and experienced political operator – was questioned on whether the time had arrived for Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, to resign. 'I don't think it would make any difference at all,' McFadden stated bluntly. Merely five hours later, following a morning of strenuous denials from Downing Street, McSweeney had departed his post. For the Prime Minister and his allies, who are ludicrously attempting to spin this development as drawing a line under the Mandelson crisis, McFadden's assessment was painfully accurate. The resignation will not alter Sir Keir's political fate in the slightest.
The Prime Minister's Final Human Shield Removed
Firstly, the Prime Minister's ultimate human shield has now vanished. No individual remains to absorb the impact of this escalating political scandal except Starmer himself. The ongoing police investigation, the potential court case that may follow, and the imminent release of the Cabinet Office due diligence file on Mandelson all loom large. This file is expected to show in explicit terms that Starmer was explicitly warned Mandelson had retained a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein following his initial conviction for paedophilia.
Furthermore, additional messages from a raft of senior government figures to Mandelson will reveal the extensive degree to which he was pulling the strings within the Starmer administration. The continued drip-feed of documents from the US Department of Justice's Epstein files adds further pressure. Sir Keir has jettisoned the final piece of ballast from the balloon; nothing can now prevent his own precipitous fall to earth.
Gaping Hole Blown in Starmer's Defence
McSweeney's resignation also blows a gaping hole in Sir Keir's increasingly incomprehensible defence for appointing Mandelson in the first instance. Last Thursday, the Prime Minister claimed he 'had no reason to disbelieve' Mandelson's assertion that he 'barely knew' Epstein. By resigning, McSweeney has effectively conceded there were very concrete and substantial reasons for disbelieving him.
The opening paragraph of his resignation letter states baldly: 'The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong.' Consequently, if McSweeney's role in that appointment constituted a resigning matter, it becomes extraordinarily difficult to see how Starmer – the individual who ultimately took the decision – can continue to evade his own central role in this saga. Even if he desires to, it is not entirely clear how much longer his parliamentary colleagues will grant him that luxury.
Collegiate Anger and Leadership Vacuum
The harsh political reality is that McSweeney possesses more friends inside government than the Prime Minister. Yesterday, those allies were spitting blood at his downfall. 'There are a lot of us who would run through a wall for him. The people who have been gunning for him had better watch what they wished for,' one warned ominously. Another observed: 'If we believe these briefings that Keir has been thinking about a new chief of staff for some time, then he's been planning on creating a sacrificial lamb, whilst at the same time claiming to take responsibility.'
Starmer simply does not command sufficient allies to defend himself from the furious tide of anger now engulfing him from all sides of his party. Indeed, with McSweeney gone, it is increasingly unclear what the precise point of the Prime Minister actually is. Ask any Labour Minister or MP and they will concede the same fundamental point: Starmerism was essentially a McSweeney construct. As one of McSweeney's friends notoriously stated, 'Keir's not driving the train. He thinks he's driving the train, but we've sat him at the front of the DLR.'
Consensus Forms for Starmer's Departure
Even prior to yesterday's resignation, a consensus had begun to form within the Cabinet and the wider parliamentary party that Starmer could no longer viably carry on in Downing Street. As one Minister confided, 'the situation's no longer retrievable.' However, there was also a recognition that with Andy Burnham outside of parliament, Angela Rayner still awaiting the outcome of the HMRC investigation into her tax affairs, and Wes Streeting tainted by his own friendship with Mandelson, an immediate leadership contest was considered suboptimal.
As a result, discussions over the weekend began to centre around the appointment of a caretaker leader. 'It would be someone with some experience, and a steady pair of hands. But who wouldn't want to be considered for the job long term,' a source revealed. The names of Hillary Benn, Yvette Cooper, and John Healey are being actively discussed in these circles. McSweeney's exit has significantly intensified those discussions. Even previously loyal Ministers are now reaching the conclusion that this crisis needs to end swiftly. 'It's bad,' one told me, 'this can't go on.'
The Symbolism of McSweeney's Sacrifice
For those pondering what McSweeney's act of self-sacrifice means for the Prime Minister, the primary focus should be on the words his former chief of staff penned in his letter of departure. 'When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice. In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient. In the circumstances, the only honourable course is to step aside.'
The Prime Minister knows the ultimate responsibility for Mandelson's appointment rests squarely with himself. He is acutely aware of the premium he placed on restoring the public's tarnished faith in their public servants when he entered office. He also recognises the profound truth in McSweeney's words concerning responsibility and honour. It is now inconceivable that Keir Starmer will seek to drag this sordid, squalid saga out much longer. Nor will he be content with the spectacle of throwing his longest-serving and most loyal aide under the bus merely to save his own political skin.
McSweeney's resignation is a symbolically momentous political event. But Pat McFadden was correct. In the final analysis, it changes absolutely nothing. The Prime Minister's fate was effectively sealed last Wednesday in the House of Commons, when he finally admitted to Kemi Badenoch that he had been informed of Peter Mandelson's ongoing friendship with the world's most notorious child abuser, yet chose to appoint him as ambassador to Washington regardless. Yesterday, Morgan McSweeney walked away from Downing Street. Keir Starmer will, in all likelihood, soon follow him.
