Morgan McSweeney, a man instrumental to the rise of Sir Keir Starmer, is at the centre of another political row after wave of anonymous briefings exposed tensions at the heart of government.Senior ministers have called for Sir Keir Starmer to impose order on the Downing Street operation run by McSweeney, his chief of staff, after media outlets were given reports cabinet colleagues were plotting leadership challenges.Some in government have blamed the 48-year-old adviser for being behind the briefings – and of importing a culture of off-the-record chats with journalists from opposition into Downing Street.But Sir Keir has said he is satisfied that the briefings about cabinet ministers plotting to challenge him did not come from Number 10.McSweeney has not commented on the criticism – like most people in behind-the-scenes roles in government he is not allowed to appear before the TV cameras to defend himself.And he has always sought to keep a low profile in any case. Until recently, there were few pictures of him in circulation.He derives his power and influence from his track record as a political strategist – he masterminded Labour’s landslide 2024 general election victory and Sir Keir’s 2020 Labour leadership bid.Like previous powerful, but unelected, advisers in Downing Street, such as Dominic Cummings or Alastair Campbell, he has been the target of negative stories.His closeness to Sir Keir – as a seasoned political operato …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnMorgan McSweeney, a man instrumental to the rise of Sir Keir Starmer, is at the centre of another political row after wave of anonymous briefings exposed tensions at the heart of government.Senior ministers have called for Sir Keir Starmer to impose order on the Downing Street operation run by McSweeney, his chief of staff, after media outlets were given reports cabinet colleagues were plotting leadership challenges.Some in government have blamed the 48-year-old adviser for being behind the briefings – and of importing a culture of off-the-record chats with journalists from opposition into Downing Street.But Sir Keir has said he is satisfied that the briefings about cabinet ministers plotting to challenge him did not come from Number 10.McSweeney has not commented on the criticism – like most people in behind-the-scenes roles in government he is not allowed to appear before the TV cameras to defend himself.And he has always sought to keep a low profile in any case. Until recently, there were few pictures of him in circulation.He derives his power and influence from his track record as a political strategist – he masterminded Labour’s landslide 2024 general election victory and Sir Keir’s 2020 Labour leadership bid.Like previous powerful, but unelected, advisers in Downing Street, such as Dominic Cummings or Alastair Campbell, he has been the target of negative stories.His closeness to Sir Keir – as a seasoned political operato …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
