Keir Starmer On The Edge? How Mcsweeney's Exit Amplifies Mandelsonepstein Crisis For UK PM Explained

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Epstein Files: Morgan McSweeney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff, resigned on 8 February amid a massive political row over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the US despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Morgan McSweeney quit taking responsibility for advising Keir Starmer to appoint Mandelson, 72, to Britain's most important diplomatic post in 2024 despite his known links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Also Read | UK PM Keir Starmer's aide Morgan McSweeney resigns amid Mandelson–Epstein links

The development comes after a new set of files revealed the Labour veteran McSweeney's relationship with the late sex offender. This also comes at a time when Prime Minister Starmer is grappling with what the UK media describes as the gravest crisis of his 18 months in office, about his judgment.

The newly published trove of Epstein files suggests that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the UK government's business secretary during the 2008 financial crisis.

Will Keir Starmer Quit?

McSweeney's resignation has put Starmer in the firing line. With polls showing Starmer's unpopularity with voters after a series of U-turns, some within the Labour Party have openly questioned his judgment and his future as UK prime minister.

Many Labour Party leaders blame McSweeney for the appointment of Mandelson and the damage caused by the publication of the exchanges between Epstein and Mandelson.

One Labour lawmaker told news agency Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that McSweeney's resignation had come too late:“It buys the PM time, but it's still the end of days.”

Also Read | British PM Keir Starmer apologises to Epstein victims for appointing Mandelson

Starmer apologised last week for "having believed Mandelson's lies. " Starmer said "none of us knew the depth of the darkness" of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein when the former was vetted for the diplomat job.

Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador, and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, has not yet been arrested or booked. Starmer sacked Mandelson as US ambassador in September over his links to Epstein.

"The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in a statement.

"When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice," he added.

Why McSweeney matters for Starmer?

McSweeney, 48, a strategist, is said to be instrumental in Starmer's rise to power. He is also hailed as the brains behind Labour Party's comeback in the UK.

McSweeney had held the role of chief of staff since October 2024, when he was handed the job following the resignation of Sue Gray after a row over pay and donations.

In the Jeremy Corbyn years (2015-2020), when control of Labour had been lost to the left, McSweeney polled party members and decided that the lawyer and shadow Brexit secretary, Starmer, was his best chance for wrestling back control of his party, the BBC reported. Eventually, it was McSweeney who persuaded pro-Corbyn party members that Sir Keir should take over, the BBC report said.

With McSweeney's departure, Starmer has lost his best campaign strategist and most trusted political adviser at a time when the prime minister is isolated and in potential peril, UK media reported.

'Starmer should have known in in the first place'

Critics cited by news agency AP said say the emails published by the US Justice Department expose concerns about Starmer's judgment. They argue that he should have known better than to appoint Mandelson in the first place.

They also include records of payments totalling USD 75,000 in 2003 and 2004 from Epstein to accounts linked to Mandelson or his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.

Starmer on Sunday appointed his deputy chiefs of staff, Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson, to serve as joint acting chiefs of staff.

Opposition Mounts Pressure

Within the opposition, several lawmakers have called for Starmer to resign. "Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions," said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, adding that the resignation was“overdue.”

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Nigel Farage, head of the populist Reform UK party, which is leading in the polls, said he believed Starmer's time would soon be up, news agency AP reported.

Starmer spent the last week defending McSweeney, a strategy that could prompt further questions about his own judgment. In a statement on Sunday, Starmer said it had been "an honour" working with him.

(With agency inputs)

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