The resignation of Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, following his advice to recommend Peter Mandelson as the UK’s Ambassador to the United States, brings to an end a remarkably influential, and controversial, chapter inside No.10.
McSweeney is widely regarded as the strategic mastermind behind Labour’s landslide general election victory in the summer of 2024. Long before the win, he had begun to rise to prominence within Westminster as a ruthless organiser and disciplined political operator. While never a household name to the public, he wielded enormous internal power and, by most accounts, was far more capable than many of his predecessors who have held the Chief of Staff role in Downing Street.
In recent years, the position itself has become increasingly high-profile and increasingly unstable. Sue Gray, Starmer’s first Chief of Staff, exited after a short and difficult stint. Before her, Dominic Cummings under Boris Johnson dominated headlines and ultimately left Downing Street amid chaos and acrimony. Both departures were tumultuous, and both figures became stories in their own right.
Yet history suggests that the best Chief of Staffs are often the least famous. David Cameron, Prime Minister for six years, never changed his Chief of Staff. Neither did Rishi Sunak during his two years in office. Tony Blair governed for a full decade from 1997 to 2007 without rotating the role. These aides rarely made headlines and arguably served their Prime Ministers better for it.
Constant media attention, as seen particularly with Cummings and now McSweeney, rarely helps run a tight political operation. More often, it becomes a distraction. The reason senior aides end up in the headlines so frequently is usually straightforward: briefing wars. A cohort of MPs, sometimes even ministers, brief against them, often due to disagreements over policy or political direction.
Strong Chiefs of Staff manage those disagreements internally, contain tensions, and minimise external noise. When disputes spill into the press, it is usually a sign of governance failure.
Another recurring issue is over-familiarity with journalists, something that appeared true of both Cummings and McSweeney. Political aides, even at the highest level, can be tempted to trade gossip or inside information as a form of bravado. This almost never ends well. MPs eventually realise who is briefing against them, and trust inside government rapidly erodes.
When senior aides become too close to journalists, they also become the story themselves. Once that happens, they live rent-free in reporters’ minds and then the coverage follows, warranted or not.
Whoever replaces McSweeney would do well to learn from these mistakes. Keep distance from the media. Let the Director of Communications and Downing Street press officers do their jobs. The Chief of Staff’s role is not to be visible, feared, or famous – but to make the Prime Minister’s operation work smoothly, quietly, and effectively.
In politics, influence is often most powerful when it is least visible.
Dylan Morley
Dylan Morley is an Account Manager with the Fuzion Corporate Communications and Public Affairs team.
