.png)
2 hours ago
1
The crisis engulfing Keir Starmer has deepened on the eve of Donald Trump’s visit to the UK after the resignation of a third senior ally in two weeks raised further questions about the stability of his government.
Paul Ovenden quit as the prime minister’s director of political strategy after the publication of old WhatsApp messages in which Ovenden relayed lewd jokes made at a party about the Labour MP Diane Abbott.
His resignation comes after a bruising two weeks in which Starmer has overseen the departures of both his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and his US ambassador, Peter Mandelson.
Starmer has also been under pressure from his own MPs after a mass far-right rally in London over the weekend. The government’s response to the rally was deemed to be weak.
The prime minister hit back saying there could be “no surrender” to racism and violence, which several cabinet members including Wes Streeting have echoed.
But tensions over the march have raised fears among many Labour MPs about whether the government is “meeting the moment”, which some have termed a “progressive emergency”.
The turmoil surrounding Starmer’s leadership has prompted Labour MPs to begin talking openly about the prospect of replacing him before the next election, and possibly even in the next few months.
The prime minister was hoping to use the US president’s state visit, which begins on Tuesday, as a platform to refocus attention on his economic and foreign policy agenda.
Instead Trump will arrive to meet a beleaguered prime minister who is under criticism from both the right and the left of the party. Allies of alternative leaders are talking up their candidates’ prospects of rescuing the government’s standing.
One MP who has so far been loyal to the prime minister said: “Downing Street needs to start improving things very quickly, otherwise they are going to lose control of this whole situation.”
A Labour official said that the departure of Ovenden – one of the prime minister’s longest-serving and closest allies – would weaken Starmer further.
“The more Keir loses people around him, the more people start to realise the problem is not them, but him,” the person said.
Starmer accepted Ovenden’s resignation after he was revealed to have exchanged messages with a friend eight years ago in which he jokingly recounted a conversation that had happened at a party the previous evening.
In those messages, which are revealed in a forthcoming book about Starmer called The Fraud, Ovenden talked about how those at the party had played a game of “shag, marry, kill” involving Abbott, before describing how they might have sex with her.
Abbott called the messages “very unpleasant”, likening them to messages revealed by the Martin Forde inquiry into bullying, racism and sexism in the Labour party.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “These messages are appalling and unacceptable. As the first black woman to be elected to parliament, Diane Abbott is a trailblazer who has faced horrendous abuse throughout her political career.
“These kinds of comments have no place in our politics.”
Starmer has long had a difficult relationship with Abbott, with his allies having tried unsuccessfully to persuade her to step down before the last election.
Ovenden said in a statement: “I am accused of, eight years ago as a junior press officer, sharing with a female colleague the details of a silly conversation that I was party to with other female staff members.”
He added: “As an adviser, my duty is to protect the reputation of the prime minister and his government. Most people could find a private conversation they’ve had in the last decade, whether in the pub or on WhatsApp, that would be distasteful or embarrassing if it were published.
“While it is chilling that a private conversation from nearly a decade ago can do this sort of damage, I am also truly, deeply sorry for it and the hurt it will cause.”
after newsletter promotion
Ovenden had previously told friends he was planning to leave after the Labour conference later this month. But his immediate departure has caused alarm among some of Starmer’s allies, who say the prime minister looks increasingly exposed, with his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, one of his few remaining long-term advisers.
One Labour official said: “Keir threw away his closest confidant over a trivial comment made eight years ago.”
Another said: “Paul was the best brain in government, and without his instincts and intellect battling for the priorities of the voter, this government risks turning inwards.”
But even as Starmer tries to turn the agenda to his meetings with Trump, he is also facing further questions over what he knew about Mandelson’s relationship with the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before appointing him in Washington.
Ministers will be pressed on that question on Tuesday after the Conservatives secured an emergency Commons debate on the Mandelson controversy.
The Tories are demanding to know when the prime minister knew about the messages in which Mandelson gave Epstein his effusive backing, even while the financier was facing charges of child sex trafficking.
Starmer told Channel 4 News on Monday: “I wouldn’t have appointed him had I known the nature and extent of the relationship – the fact that he was questioning and challenging [Epstein’s] conviction.”
But many MPs are irritated not just by the missteps which have led to the departure of several key members of staff, but also by the prime minister’s perceived failure to denounce the resurgent hard right.
Starmer attempted to rectify that later on Monday, telling Channel 4: “I’m absolutely determined to lead in this fight of our times between renewal, the patriotic cause of the Labour party, and the division and toxic chaos and decline that would come under Reform.”
But with events moving quickly, some believe the prime minister may face a challenge before next May’s elections – even before one of his chief rivals, the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has time to find a Commons seat.
One Labour source said: “At this rate Wes [Streeting, the health secretary] is going to have to get organised earlier. Things are moving too fast for Andy.”
