(Bloomberg) -- Keir Starmer’s most senior adviser has resigned just three months after Labour’s UK general election win, a major blow to the premier following weeks of internal infighting and mounting criticism of his political operation.
Sue Gray is leaving her post as the prime minister’s chief of staff and taking up a new role as his envoy for the UK’s nations and regions, Number 10 Downing Street said in a statement released on Sunday.
“I want to thank Sue for all the support she has given me, both in opposition and government, and her work to prepare us for government and get us started on our programme of change,” Starmer said.
Morgan McSweeney, formerly Labour’s campaign director, will replace Gray as chief of staff, Downing Street said. Bloomberg reported two weeks ago that other senior Labour aides thought she may soon leave her job.
Gray’s departure, which is accompanied by a wider shake-up of the Number 10 political team, will be viewed as an attempt by Starmer to reset his government and draw a line under the turbulent start to his time in office. Still, it will do little to dispel accusations that, after campaigning on promises of change and stability after years of chaos under the Conservatives, Starmer has so far has been unable to demonstrate he’s running a steady ship.
Since his Labour Party won power for the first time in 14 years at the July 4 vote, the new administration has faced scrutiny over its gloomy messaging about Britain’s fiscal outlook and struggled to escape damaging news headlines alleging Starmer had accepted donations and freebies in exchange for access.
Labour lawmakers and aides had blamed Gray for many of those early teething problems. As the most senior aide in charge of Starmer’s political team, she was responsible for the day-to-day running of its operation, the management of other aides and the transition from opposition to government.
Yet in those first months in office, as both Labour’s and Starmer’s poll ratings plummeted, privately her colleagues within government became more and more critical of her judgment and leadership style.
Gray was also seen as personally involved in the level of access awarded to Waheed Alli, a Labour donor and close associate of hers who sparked weeks of controversy when it was reported he had been given a pass to Downing Street after the election win.
“In recent weeks it has become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government’s vital work of change,” Gray said in a statement released by Downing Street. “It is for that reason I have chosen to stand aside, and I look forward to continuing to support the prime minister in my new role.”
Starmer made other changes to his team of advisers on Sunday. Vidhya Alakeson, who previously ran business relations for Labour in opposition, will become the premier’s joint deputy chief of staff, alongside Jill Cuthbertson, a long-standing aide.
Nin Pandit, a former director of Downing Street’s policy unit, will become principal private secretary to the prime minister. James Lyons, a former journalist and communications official at the National Health Service, joins the Number 10 media team.
(Updates with details of other appointees, background)
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