Irishman Morgan McSweeney: the softly-spoken chief of staff to Keir Starmer now facing questions

Irish Times

2 days ago

He was the political mastermind who oversaw Labour's landslide election victory nearly a year ago.
Now
Morgan McSweeney,
from Codrum, just outside Macroom, Co Cork, has become a lightning rod for criticism as the UK government faces its biggest ever parliamentary rebellion.
McSweeney,
the softly-spoken chief of staff to UK prime minister Sir
Keir Starmer
, played a crucial role in purging leftwing Labour MPs, rebuilding the party as a centrist force and setting the government's agenda.
Under the Irishman's encouragement, Starmer swapped his previously leftwing clothing for a more patriotic, fiscally responsible, immigration-sceptic stance that helped propel him into Number 10
Downing Street
with a massive majority.
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But with Labour behind in opinion polls, the prime minister's personal ratings slumping and angry backbenchers threatening to humiliate Starmer over his welfare cuts, MPs are starting to question whether McSweeney's Downing Street operation is firing on all cylinders.
'Everyone is selling shares in Morgan,' said one Labour veteran. 'People are starting to put their heads above the parapet and say maybe he's not the Messiah after all.'
At the heart of the blame game is McSweeney's belief that the government needs to head off the threat of
Nigel Farage's
populist Reform UK party by leaning to the right on welfare, defence, aid and immigration.
Labour's setback in the local elections in England in May – when it lost hundreds of seats to Reform – has emboldened McSweeney and other Starmer aides in their attempts to shore up the ruling party's right flank.
They have survey data suggesting most of the public want stricter controls on welfare spending, and believe benefits reform is one way to claw back Labour's six-point poll deficit behind Reform.
'People need to grow up and get serious ... this is a problem with the country, not with Morgan McSweeney,' said one loyalist MP. 'You can brief against staffers, slag off politicians, but the cost of welfare will still be unsustainable.'
This shift to a so-called blue Labour stance has the backing of MPs in seats that supported Brexit and moved to the Tories temporarily under Boris Johnson's leadership – and are now vulnerable to Reform.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer: facing a backbench revolt over his welfare bill. Photograph:But many of the 100-plus Labour MPs set to rebel next week over Starmer's welfare bill are more worried about the voters that are haemorrhaging to leftwing parties such as the Greens, and deeply uncomfortable about taking money away from some of the most vulnerable people in society.
Starmer's so-called loveless landslide – which saw him catapulted to power by a rejection of the Conservatives rather than an enthusiastic endorsement of his agenda – makes Labour's majority particularly vulnerable, some people fear.
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Who is Morgan McSweeney, the Irishman heading up Keir Starmer's Downing Street operation?
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The 'Marmite' view of McSweeney reflects a generational divide within the Parliamentary Labour party, which one person described as a 'two tribes' situation.
They questioned why Number 10 was blindsided on Monday when it emerged more than 100 Labour MPs had signed an amendment aimed at blocking the passage of Starmer's welfare bill through parliament.
'Number 10 ... should have seen this rebellion coming from outer space,' said one senior Labour MP. Instead, 'they refused to listen, doubled down, refused to accept the criticism and just dug in. This is where we've ended up'.
In the early months of Starmer's government, the prime minister's first chief of staff Sue Gray was blamed for many of Downing Street's problems.
A former civil servant, she was in effect defenestrated by McSweeney in October.
'A lot of people drank the Kool-Aid that he was the fixer and Sue Gray was useless, but he can't blame Sue for this one,' said the Labour veteran.
Another MP said McSweeney's role in the government seemed to be to 'shield' Starmer from uncomfortable truths, including on his welfare reforms.
'Other people in Number 10 were saying he didn't have the numbers for this and he wouldn't get it through parliament. The chief whip has been warning them about this for months. But they had their fingers in their ears,' they said. 'It's extraordinarily arrogant and complacent.'
Others see in Number 10's determinedness to press ahead with next week's House of Commons vote on the welfare bill a sign of McSweeney's desire to still confront Labour's denuded leftwing.
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Analysis: When two becomes one: Starmer's first mistake was to allow competing power bases into Number 10
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One MP from the 2024 election intake said it seemed as though McSweeney was 'spoiling for a fight' with the left of the party over the welfare reforms, which was a 'very stupid thing to do'.
Allies of the chief of staff were involved in the selection process for candidates in last year's election, ruthlessly weeding out anyone seen as excessively leftwing. Yet the list of what is now 125 rebels is full of newcomers who made it through the net.
McSweeney's supporters believe he will be able to shake off the growing animosity, insisting he has been a positive force within the government.
They say that – since the departure of Gray – the Irishman has helped Starmer get a grip on the Whitehall operation and improve morale. 'They are much steadier, happier and more political than they were,' said one.
'He backs staff unwaveringly, is in the trenches with us, and enables us to be political and keeps us sharp,' said one colleague. 'Sue tried to knock the politics out of the operation, foolishly.'
McSweeney played a crucial role in trade negotiations with the EU and the US, building relationships with advisers in Washington and Brussels. 'They like, respect and trust him,' said one colleague.
He was also early to spot the risk of the winter fuel allowance cuts last summer which have since been largely reversed, according to allies.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage: his party is seen as a major threat to Labour in its heartlands. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
But Pat McFadden, Cabinet Office minister and an influential figure in the government, has warned Starmer of the danger of relentlessly targeting Reform-inclined voters, putting him at odds with McSweeney.
One ally of McFadden, who is a former aide to
Tony Blair
, said: 'Pat believes we should have a big national message. It's never a good idea to choose between one group of voters and another. Blue Labour is not Pat's thing – it's more Morgan's thing.'
Luke Akehurst, the loyalist MP for North Durham, pointed out in his constituency Labour plunged from 56 to four seats in the local elections – while Reform jumped from zero to 65.
'Labour is now clearly losing votes to Reform in its former heartlands and ... the votes lost to the Greens and Lib Dems are more likely to be in seats that are safe enough that we can afford some loss of votes,' he argued recently.
But now a phalanx of Labour MPs representing diverse and urban seats fear this shift to the right will end up alienating many of the party's natural supporters.
Polling from YouGov suggests far more voters who have deserted Labour since July have switched to the Liberal Democrats, Greens, Plaid Cymru or the Scottish National Party rather than Reform or the Conservatives.
Some left-leaning MPs accept the need for tougher policies on for example immigration, noting net migration had been high in recent years.
But still many inside Labour recoiled at Starmer's language about the dangers of Britain becoming an 'island of strangers' in a May speech.
The divides within the party were on display during a gathering a few weeks ago of the Parliamentary Labour party.
'There were a slew of mostly London MPs with big majorities talking about progressive values and criticising the immigration policy,' said one pro-Starmer attendee.
'But there is also a caucus of younger MPs from the 'red wall' and the growth group, who agree with some of those policies. You could really see two tribes in the room, and how it's partly generational.'
One Labour strategist said: 'Morgan is an easy lightning rod for people to blame for everything they don't like about this government, which is not how government works in reality.'
A Number 10 aide said: 'This government was elected to deliver change and it was never going to be easy. Our wins and challenges are owned by all of us.' – – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025