Is Morgan McSweeney the answer to Keir Starmer’s troubles?

It might be best described as the war for Keir Starmer’s ear in Downing Street, a battle to the bitter end between two of the Prime Minister’s most senior advisers. There was, in reality, only going to be one winner, and so it has come to pass. Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief adviser and architect of Labour’s massive general election victory this summer, has been anointed as the PM’s new all-powerful chief of staff. Out goes Sue Gray, his embattled predecessor. Gray decided the game was up, saying she ‘risked becoming a distraction’. 

This is Whitehall-speak for a series of negative briefings behind the scenes and increasingly acrimonious public rows. There was controversy after it was revealed that Gray was being paid £170,000 in the role. It is unknown who leaked her salary details, which showed she was earning more than Starmer.