Keir Starmer's director of communications steps down as pressure ramps up on PM

Tim Allan has left Downing St after only joining in September.

It comes after the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney quit on Sunday.

Mr Allan said: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built.

“I wish the PM and his team every success.”

Mr Allan is the fourth Downing St head of communications since Labour won the general election in July 2024.

He started his political career as a researcher for Sir Tony Blair in 1992, who was then shadow home secretary.

When Sir Tony became leader of the opposition, Mr Allan was made his deputy press secretary.

He became deputy director of communications after the 1997 general election win, before leaving to join BSkyB in 1998.

Mr McSweeney stood down on Sunday over the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.

The Irishman - who is married to Scottish Labour MP for Hamilton and Clyde Valley Imogen Walker - said he took “full responsibility” for giving the Prime Minister advice that resulted in the “wrong” appointment.

Some MPs - including Alloa and Grangemouth’s Brian Leishman - have urged Sir Keir to follow his aide out the door.

Mr McSweeney’s departure has prompted a shake-up of the No 10 operation, with his deputies, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, made joint acting chiefs of staff.

Sir Keir said in an address to No 10 staff: “We must prove that politics can be a force for good. I believe it can. I believe it is. We go forward from here. We go with confidence as we continue changing the country.”

He said they are united by a “driving purpose” of “public duty”.

Speaking to his team about the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson British ambassador to Washington, he said: “The thing that makes me most angry is the undermining of the belief that politics can be a force for good and can change lives.

“I have been absolutely clear that I regret the decision that I made to appoint Peter Mandelson. And I’ve apologised to the victims which is the right thing to do.”

He also paid tribute to Mr McSweeney as a “colleague and a friend”.

“We changed the Labour Party together. We won a general election together. And none of that would have been possible without Morgan McSweeney.

“His dedication, his commitment and his loyalty to our party and our country was second to none. And I want to thank him for his service.”

Matt Vickers, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, said:

“The rats are abandoning the sinking ship that is Keir Starmer’s premiership.

"Labour MPs should stop moaning and put him out of his misery. The country deserves so much better than this weak, chaotic Government. "The public is crying out for leadership with a backbone, a strong team and the clear plans to get Britain working again. That is Kemi Badenoch’s new Conservative Party.”