Former Sun editor lined up to be Starmer's communications chief
David Dinsmore is set to take up the new position of permanent secretary for communications, having seen off several other experienced candidates.
The Prime Minister interviewed those who made the final shortlist and was said to have been impressed with Mr Dinsmore's understanding of modern communication challenges.
He will be a Civil Service appointment rather than a political adviser, and be tasked with improving the Government's vast communications operation.
There are currently some 7,000 government communications officers, roughly one for every 5,000 voters across the UK.
His appointment comes at a time when Labour's ability to communicate with the country is being questioned after sinking in the opinion polls after a year in office.
Labour swept into power on 34 per cent of the vote last summer but now sits on 22 per cent in average polls. Meanwhile Nigel Farage's Reform has surged into the lead on 28 per cent.
Mr Dinsmore was editor of The Sun from 2013 to 2015. He started journalism as a reporter on The Scottish Sun aged 22 in 1990 and rose to become its editor in 2006.
He is still at News UK, which is owned by the Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, where he has been chief operating officer for the past decade.
His appointment is the latest example of senior tabloid journalists moving across to help a Prime Minister with communications.
Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World, helped Lord Cameron in Opposition and then Downing Street before leaving amid the scrutiny of the phone hacking scandal.
Alastair Campbell was political editor of the Daily Mirror before he became Sir Tony Blair's most senior communications adviser, becoming one of the most influential figures in his premiership.
Mr Dinsmore's links to The Sun could trigger criticism from some figures in the Labour coalition, especially those in Liverpool, where many residents still boycott the paper over its coverage of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989.
Labour's annual party conference will be held in Liverpool this autumn. A Labour MP, when told the news, predicted: 'A lot of people will be unhappy with that appointment, especially in Liverpool.'
In 2014, Mr Dinsmore, then still Sun editor, was named 'sexist of the year' after a poll run by a feminist campaigning coalition called End Violence Against Women.
The Sun was at the time still publishing photographs of topless women each day on page three of the newspaper.
Yet Sir Keir and Morgan McSweeney, his influential chief of staff, are said to have been impressed by Mr Dinsmore's understanding of today's communications landscape.
He will be given permission to plot a complete overhaul of government communications, looking at how to land messages in a fracturing media world where social media is becoming ever more popular.
The creation of the new role was months in the making, and not a direct reaction to recent upheavals, such as the gutting of a welfare cuts package after a major Labour Party rebellion.
Sir Keir is said to have voiced concerns about how government communications was working late last year.
Mr Dinsmore's appointment means that Tim Allan, a former Number 10 director of communications who served under Sir Tony, will not be brought in with a formal position.
The Sunday Times reported last weekend that he was in the running for the newly created role. But it is understood ultimately Mr Allen did not put his name forward.
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