Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, is to call on Keir Starmer to stand down as British prime minister and Labour leader at a hastily arranged press conference in Glasgow.
Sarwar is said to be furious that the prime minister’s repeated mistakes have heavily damaged support for Scottish Labour in the run-up to crucial Scottish parliament elections in May.
The latest opinion polls show Labour trailing in third place behind the Scottish National party and Reform.
The development follows the resignation of Tim Allan, Starmer’s director of communications, after only five months in the job. Allan stepped down h a day after the prime Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed.
Allan said in a brief statement: “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.”
The resignation is another blow to Starmer’s position amid a furious row about the decision to make Peter Mandelson ambassador to Washington despite his close links to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Downing Street said on Monday said Starmer is not resigning and will be “concentrating on the job in hand”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said Starmer’s mood this morning was “upbeat” and “confident” as he gave an address to No 10 staff.
Asked if Starmer was going to resign today, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “No.”
He added: “The prime minister is concentrating on the job in hand. He is getting on with the job of delivering change across the country.”
Asked about reports going into the weekend that Starmer had been remorseful and wavering over his political future, he said: “That is not the prime minister who appeared in front of staff this morning.
“It is very clear that he remains determined to tackle the job in hand.”
Stamer is later expected to address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party amid anger over his appointment of Mandelson.
Allan, a former deputy press secretary for Tony Blair, who went on to found the PR agency Portland, returned to Downing Street in September as part of the last shake-up of Starmer’s team, in which Darren Jones also moved to No 10 from the treasury.
Allan replaced James Lyons, who had been director of strategic communications for a year. Shortly after Allan arrived, Steph Driver, who was the No 10 head of day-to-day communications, quit following some concern that Allan had in effect been recruited above her.
Allan had been a somewhat controversial appointment, in part because of some of the clients taken on by Portland. But losing two senior staff members in less than 24 hours will increase the sense that Starmer’s Downing Street operation is in freefall.
[[Starmer battles to save his premiership after resignation of Cork man Morgan McSweeneyOpens in new window ]
[[Mark Paul: What’s next for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party?Opens in new window ]
McSweeney announced his resignation on Sunday afternoon after days of pressure from many Labour MPs, saying he took “full responsibility” for his advice to send Mandelson to Washington despite a relationship with Epstein that continued beyond the late financier serving a jail term for sexual trafficking.
While allies of Starmer hope the departure of McSweeney will assuage the anger of MPs, the loss of the man seen as the architect of Starmer’s rise to power is a huge blow and has turned attention to why the prime minister himself approved the Mandelson decision.
Senior Labour sources have warned that McSweeney’s departure leaves the prime minister dangerously exposed as he heads towards a series of policy and electoral challenges – including the Gorton and Denton byelection later this month – that could determine his political fate.
A source close to Downing Street said: “Keir has just lost his firewall, on Mandelson and a whole load of other issues. Where does he think the anger gets directed next?”
The Conservatives have attempted to keep the focus on Starmer. Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Kemi Badenoch said Starmer had allowed McSweeney to “carry the can” for his own decision.
The Conservative leader said: “Keir Starmer knew, he knew. It is his judgment and the fact that he has been dishonest, he was dishonest – he claimed not to know, then he changed his story and claimed that he had been lied to.”
In a statement on Sunday, McSweeney said: “After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government. The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself. When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice. In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient. In the circumstances, the only honourable course is to step aside.”
He said the vetting process for appointments needed “fundamental overhaul” after the Mandelson affair. “This cannot simply be a gesture but a safeguard for the future,” he said. – Guardian/PA
date:2026-02-09 12:33:00
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