Closing summary
Thank you for following the Guardian’s live blog on Morgan McSweeney’s resignation.
Our live coverage has now ended. Here’s an overview of everything that happened today:
Morgan McSweeney resigned from his role of chief of staff to the prime minister after reportedly pushing for Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US in 2024 despite his known ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
In his resignation statement, McSweeney said: “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.”
Reacting to his chief of staff’s departure, Keir Starmer said in a statement: “It’s been an honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years. He turned our party around after one of its worst ever defeats and played a central role running our election campaign. It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country.”
Starmer appointed Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson as acting chiefs of staff, with immediate effect. Both served as deputy chiefs of staff since 2024.
The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Starmer should also “take responsibility” for his actions. In a post on X, Badenoch wrote: “It’s about time. But once again with this PM it’s somebody else’s fault: ‘Mandelson lied to me’ or ‘Morgan advised me’.” She added: “Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions. But he never does.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, said the prime minister can “change his advisers all he likes”, but added that “the buck stops with him”. She wrote on X: “We need to see an end to this political soap opera, with answers for the British public and, most importantly, justice for the victims and survivors of Epstein and his network.”
Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party, called for Starmer to step down, saying McSweeney’s resignation was necessary “but not sufficient”.
Several Labour MPs also urged Starmer to consider stepping down after McSweeney’s resignation. Among them was Ian Byrne, who said the prime minister “must now reflect honestly on his own position and ask whether, for the good of the country and the Labour party, he should follow” McSweeney’s lead.
Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, also warned that McSweeney’s resignation will not protect the prime minister, adding that Starmer’s position is “untenable”.
Other Labour MPs spoke out in Starmer’s defence. They included Natalie Fleet, the Labour MP for Bolsover, who told LBC “we have never had a prime minister that cares as much about violence against women and girls” as he does.
John Slinger, Rugby’s Labour MP, urged Labour to “rally behind the prime minister”. He said: “We don’t ditch a leader just because the going gets tough.”
Updated
Natalie Fleet, the Labour MP for Bolsover, has defended Keir Starmer, saying “we have never had a prime minister that cares as much about violence against women and girls” as he does.
As a reminder, Morgan McSweeney resigned after he reportedly pushed for Peter Mandelson to be appointed UK ambassador to the US despite his known ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Amid growing calls for Starmer to step down, including from Labour MPs, Fleet told LBC:
This is a man that cares deeply and is absolutely determined to use the full force of the state so that we can do everything that we can to eradicate violence against women and girls.
I want him to stay in post. … He has my absolute full support.
The head of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has said the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US could be “fatal for this government unless the Labour party changes its leadership”.
Eddie Dempsey, who serves as general secretary of the RMT, a union that is not affiliated to any political party, said: “The Labour government is being held back by an elitist faction epitomised by Morgan McSweeney whose resignation is long overdue.
“However, the vestiges of New Labour are poisoning the well of the entire movement, opening the door to electoral defeat by alienating millions of working-class voters in Labour heartlands.”
Dempsey claimed New Labour “created a toxic political culture” where the party’s leadership “turned on trade unionists, and abandoned workers in favour of a corrupt wealthy elite”.
He added: “Mandelson’s association with a notorious paedophile and Starmer’s decision to hire him as US ambassador could be fatal for this government unless the Labour party changes its leadership and starts organising society in the interests of working people, rather than doffing the cap to the money markets, spivs and speculators.”
Updated
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, has said Morgan McSweeney’s resignation was “a start”, but more needs to be done to tackle factionalism within the party.
She told the Press Association: “It is a start, but we need to know how decisions have been made in the Labour party, including the role of Peter Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney’s ‘kitchen cabinet’, and how this whole culture will turn away from the factionalism to an inclusive culture which seeks to listen and engage MPs and prevent future errors over policy.”
It has been reported that McSweeney convened a “kitchen cabinet” of like-minded Labour figures who met on Sunday evenings at the London home of Roger Liddle, a Labour peer and old friend of Mandelson.
Updated
Ian Byrne has said the prime minister “must now reflect honestly on his own position and ask whether, for the good of the country and the Labour party, he should follow” Morgan McSweeney’s lead and step down.
The Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby wrote in a post on X that McSweeney’s resignation was “in the best interests of the government”.
He said McSweeney, the “man lauded for masterminding” Labour’s 2024 election victory, “has also been central to the political misjudgements and errors made since winning” that election.
Byrne added:
His departure is also in the best interests of the Labour party.
McSweeney has overseen the erosion of internal democracy and the normalisation of a deeply damaging factionalism that members and MPs are now living with - and which I experienced first hand in 2022.
But this will not stop with a single resignation. A true change in political direction must now come from - and be led from - the very top.
As we’ve reported, Keir Starmer has appointed Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson as acting chiefs of staff, with immediate effect.
Cuthbertson and Alakeson have shared the role as McSweeney’s deputy, with Cuthbertson tending to concentrate on logistics and operations.
Cuthbertson has a long background in Labour politics, having worked in No 10 under Gordon Brown and then as part of Ed Miliband’s events team when he was party leader. Seen as a trusted pair of hands, she was known for her detailed logistical plans during the election campaign, which helped Starmer avoid the kind of mistakes that bedevilled the early days of Rishi Sunak’s campaign.
Alakeson won plaudits before the election for leading Starmer’s outreach to the business community. Like many of those at the top of the Labour party, she has a background at the Resolution Foundation thinktank, where she was deputy chief executive. Before that she worked in the Treasury as a policy adviser.
Those who have worked with her in No 10, where she was deputy chief of staff until Sunday, have praised her work ethic and her ability to work with groups outside the Labour party. But as a policy expert some say she lacks the raw political skills so ruthlessly employed by McSweeney.
Updated
Starmer appoints new acting chiefs of staff
An email has just gone round No 10 staff confirming that the prime minister has asked Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson to be acting chiefs of staff, with immediate effect.
Both Alakeson and Cuthbertson have served as deputy chiefs of staff since 2024.
Updated
Downing Street has suggested that Keir Starmer and his chief of staff decided together that it was the right moment for McSweeney to move on, indicating that ultimately the prime minister made the call.
Starmer is expected to provide an update as early as Monday on how the government is addressing the issues highlighted by the Mandelson scandal. He instructed officials to begin work on this last week, and to deliver at pace.
It was unclear whether this update would be an Commons statement to MPs, a speech or a press conference.
Government insiders said that Starmer’s policy focus would remain on tackling the cost of living and would stick with the existing economic strategy to deliver it.
Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, has said Morgan McSweeney’s resignation should not be treated as a “cleansing moment”.
Lewis explained that McSweeney “was not an aberration”, but “the tip of an iceberg”.
He continued:
What he represents is a political culture that has dominated Labour for a generation.
A culture forged under Blair and Mandelson that taught the party to be relaxed about extreme wealth, comfortable in the orbit of billionaires, lobbyists and corporate power, and increasingly detached from the lives of the people it was created to represent. The Mandelson scandal matters because it exposes that culture in its rawest form. Proximity to wealth and power was not a by-product. It was the point.
Lewis claimed that unless Labour confronts the culture that “rewarded closeness to wealth, blurred ethical lines and treated democratic accountability as an inconvenience”, McSweeney’s resignation “will amount to little more than damage limitation”.
Updated
Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, has warned that Morgan McSweeney’s resignation will not protect the prime minister, adding that Keir Starmer’s position is “untenable”.
She told Sky News that McSweeney was Starmer’s “adviser, but at the end of the day, the buck stops with” the prime minister.
Johnson added:
[McSweeney] was not working alone; others were responsible for bringing the party into disrepute and endless factionalism.
His resignation will not protect the PM – his position is untenable.
Updated
Morgan McSweeney’s resignation comes just days after Keir Starmer described him as an “essential part of my team”.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch criticised McSweeney – who is seen as having been instrumental in pushing for Peter Mandelson to become UK ambassador to the US – and pressed the prime minister on whether he still had confidence in him.
Starmer responded: “Morgan McSweeney is an essential part of my team. He helped me change the Labour party and win an election. Of course, I have confidence.”
The following day, a Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer had “full confidence” in his chief of staff.
Steve Reed also insisted on Thursday that the prime minister and McSweeney were safe in their jobs.
Asked whether Starmer’s position is secure, the housing secretary told BBC Breakfast: “Of course it is.”
On Sky News, he was pressed on whether McSweeney is safe in his role, after being blamed by many Labour MPs for pushing for Mandelson’s appointment.
Reed answered: “Yes, of course he is.”
Updated
Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader has said Morgan McSweeney’s resignation “won’t save Keir Starmer”.
Posting on X, Liz Saville Roberts added: “Making a sacrificial lamb of his chief of staff cannot erase the prime minister’s own failure of judgement in appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.”
Gordon McKee, the Labour MP for Glasgow South, has posted a lengthy statement on social media in defence of Morgan McSweeney.
McKee acknowledged that “McSweeney made a mistake on Mandelson”, but added that “he is not alone in that”.
What he is alone in is his extraordinary ability. Morgan started as a receptionist, and rose up to almost single handedly mastermind our return from the wilderness to a Labour Government.
McKee added: “As a member of staff he doesn’t get to rebut the nonsense that is said about him. I have known him personally for six years, and he is one of the most decent people that I’ve ever met in politics.”
In a separate post on X, McKee said he knows McSweeney will “be appalled by the revelations about Peter Mandelson and thinking of the victims” of Jeffrey Epstein’s “horrific crimes”.
Sir Keir Starmer should “look at his own position” and consider following Morgan McSweeney by stepping down, a Labour MP has said.
Brian Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said McSweeney’s “resignation as chief of staff to the prime minister is in the best interests of the government”.
He was at the heart of the political misjudgements and errors that have been made since winning the general election. It is also in the best interests of the Labour party as he was instrumental in the lack of internal democracy and the culture of intense factionalism we are suffering from.
Speaking to the Press Association, Leishman said that there needs to be “change in political direction and that comes from the very top, so the prime minister must look at his own position and question whether he should follow McSweeney’s lead one last time, and resign for the good of the country and the Labour party”.
In the early hours of 5 July 2024, Keir Starmer arrived at Tate Modern in central London to celebrate Labour’s landslide election victory. As he prepared to address the throng of cheering activists, he was flanked by two people: his wife, Victoria, and his closest aide, Morgan McSweeney.
A reluctant McSweeney, it was reported, was dragged on stage by the soon-to-be prime minister to a roar from the party’s foot soldiers. A few years previously, this moment had seemed impossible. Many believe that, without McSweeney, it would have been.
Shortly before Christmas 2019, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, Labour had suffered its worst election defeat since 1935. Voters in swathes of the party’s industrial heartlands in the north and the Midlands – from retired coalminers in County Durham to steelworkers in Scunthorpe – had battled the December elements to vote Tory for the first time. Labour seemed lost to the unelectable hard left and some predicted it would never win another general election.
Yet fewer than five years later it had done just that. Not only had the party clawed back most of its “red wall”, it had triumphed in a handful of seats that had never before had a Labour MP. McSweeney was credited as the brains behind one of the most staggering political comebacks in British history.
The now disgraced Peter Mandelson, one of the architects of New Labour, summed up how the party’s moderates once felt about McSweeney when he said: “I don’t know who and how and when he was invented. But whoever it was, they will find their place in heaven.”
Yet it is McSweeney’s relationship with his mentor Mandelson that has been his undoing.
Labour MP John Slinger has defended Keir Starmer and rejected calls for him to step down.
In a statement posted to X, the Rugby MP said “we don’t ditch a leader just because the going gets tough”, adding that “it’s in the national interest for Keir Starmer to stay as prime minister”.
Slinger continued:
Since I’ve done that, I have been approached in the street by constituents telling me they heard me on the radio and totally agree. I have had CEOs of companies message me to say they agree.
And I have had people from all around the country, whether Labour or not, saying they think the last thing the country needs is leadership speculations and that we should support the prime minister.
Keir Starmer ‘needs to go’, says Polanski
Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party, has called for Keir Starmer to step down, saying Morgan McSweeney’s resignation was necessary “but not sufficient”.
Reacting to McSweeney’s resignation on X, Polanski wrote: “Necessary but not sufficient.
“He knew. And still appointed him. Starmer needs to go.”
As a reminder, McSweeney advised the prime minister to appoint Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US despite his known ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Updated
Farage predicts Starmer will be out of No 10 after Labour's expected 'disaster' in May elections
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said in a social media post:
As predicted McSweeney has gone. Labour are just continuing the chaos we saw under the Tories. My money says Starmer won’t be far behind after Labour’s disaster in the elections this coming May.
The May elections, which include contests for council seats across England, as well as for the Welsh and Scottish parliaments, have long been seen as a crucial test for Keir Starmer, who is deeply unpopular with the public.
The prime minister is expected to face open calls to resign if Labour suffers heavy losses in May. Reform has consistently led in opinion polls, and poses a huge threat to Labour, along with the Greens who are taking votes from the party’s left.
Updated
The 'buck stops' with the PM, Lib Dems say as deputy leader calls for an end to 'political soap opera'
Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, said this in reaction to Morgan McSweeney’s resignation:
The prime minister can change his advisers all he likes, but the buck stops with him.
We need to see an end to this political soap opera, with answers for the British public and, most importantly, justice for the victims and survivors of Epstein and his network.
We have not yet been told who is going to replace Morgan McSweeney as the prime minister’s chief of staff, suggesting it may not have been a planned announcement.
Only this morning, the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on her Sunday politics programme that there was “no point” in getting rid of McSweeney over the Mandelson revelations.
“I see no point in that whatsoever”
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) February 8, 2026
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden says it would be wrong to sack the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney#BBCLauraKhttps://t.co/fjhbGbz4Up pic.twitter.com/P4o0vk6oym
Updated
Numerous Labour MPs called for McSweeney’s departure before it came this afternoon. The names reportedly included Clive Efford, Patrick Hurley and Kim Johnson. We have some reaction to the resignation from other Labour MPs now:
Karl Turner, a Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East, wrote on X: “Should think so. Now let’s move on.”
John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, said: “Morgan McSweeney’s resignation is the right measure but let’s remember the old adage: Advisers advise but ministers decide.”
Apsana Begum, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said: “Mandelson was also able to resign from the Lords & the Labour Party. A whole set of investigations into the internal can be avoided now, with questions left about the political culture and leadership of a faction that allows for resignations over accountability and transparency.”
Richard Burgon, the left-wing Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “Important first step. The Labour General Secretary must set up an independent inquiry into the practices that McSweeney & Mandelson undertook in the Labour Party. There is a lot to do to rid the Party of the nasty factionalism that has left Labour so unpopular with the public.”
Updated
Neal Lawson, director of the soft left pressure group Compass, said:
Morgan McSweeney’s resignation is simply one person jumping overboard on a sinking ship.
In time, a new captain will be needed to steer the party – and the country – in a different direction.
Starmer is a 'lame duck leader' who should follow McSweeney 'out the door', SNP says
Reacting to the McSweeney resignation, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said:
Whenever Keir Starmer makes a catastrophic error of judgement, someone else is always forced to carry the can.
It won’t wash with voters this time. Advisers only advise. It was Keir Starmer who showed appalling personal judgement in appointing Peter Mandelson, despite knowing about his links to Jeffrey Epstein. This is entirely on him.
Keir Starmer’s time in office has been beset by a constant stream of bad judgements, broken promises, scandals and failure. Voters have lost confidence in him and want him to go.
With his own MPs calling for him to quit, Starmer is a lame duck leader. He should take personal responsibility and follow Morgan McSweeney out the door before he does any more damage.
Updated
It was an honour working with McSweeney, Starmer says after loss of key strategist
Reacting to his chief of staff’s departure, Keir Starmer said in a statement:
It’s been an honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years. He turned our party around after one of its worst ever defeats and played a central role running our election campaign.
It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country.
Having worked closely with Morgan in opposition and in government, I have seen every day his commitment to the Labour Party and to our country. Our party and I owe him a debt of gratitude, and I thank him for his service.
Badenoch says Starmer should 'take responsibility for his own terrible decisions' after McSweeney resignation
In response to news of McSweeney resigning as the prime minister’s chief of staff, the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Starmer should also “take responsibility” for his actions. In a post on X, Badenoch wrote:
It’s about time. But once again with this PM it’s somebody else’s fault: ‘Mandelson lied to me’ or ‘Morgan advised me’.
Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions. But he never does.
Updated
Downing Street said as recently as Thursday that Morgan McSweeney retained the prime minister’s confidence.
No 10 may hope McSweeney’s resignation takes some of the pressure off Keir Starmer, but now questions will be raised about the prime minister’s ability to go on without his key strategist as concerns over Starmer’s judgment and authority continue to swirl.
Updated
McSweeney says he takes 'full responsibility' for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson
We can now bring you Morgan McSweeney’s resignation letter in full:
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.
This has not been an easy decision. Much has been written and said about me over the years but my motivations have always been simple: I have worked every day to elect and support a government that puts the lives of ordinary people first and leads us to a better future for our great country. Only a Labour government will do that. I leave with pride in all we have achieved mixed with regret at the circumstances of my departure. But I have always believed there are moments when you must accept your responsibility and step aside for the bigger cause.
As I leave I have two further reflections: Firstly, and most importantly, we must remember the women and girls whose lives were ruined by Jeffrey Epstein and whose voices went unheard for far too long.
Secondly, while I did not oversee the due diligence and vetting process, I believe that process must now be fundamentally overhauled. This cannot simply be a gesture but a safeguard for the future.
I remain fully supportive of the prime minister. He is working every day to rebuild trust, restore standards and serve the country. I will continue to back that mission in whatever way I can. It has been the honour of my life to serve.
My colleague Peter Walker has some background on Morgan McSweeney, who is reported to have pushed for Peter Mandelson’s recruitment into the US ambassador role last year. Here is an extract from his report:
McSweeney masterminded Starmer’s path to Downing Street less than five years after Jeremy Corbyn’s devastating defeat in the 2019 election …
McSweeney’s departure follows the recent loss of two other aides who were also particularly close to Starmer, his director of political strategy Paul Ovenden and his communications head Steph Driver.
But the loss of McSweeney, who began his career trying to oust the hard left from Labour in Lambeth, south London, is particularly emblematic given his pivotal role in the Starmer project and the transformation of Labour in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
Despite his success in guiding Labour to a huge majority, McSweeney had critics within the party, and particularly among MPs, a number of whom complained he presided over an unnecessarily factional, petty and cliquey Downing Street operation.
Updated
Morgan McSweeney quits as Keir Starmer's chief of staff
Morgan McSweeney has resigned from his role of chief of staff to the prime minister.
BREAKING: Morgan McSweeney quits as Keir Starmer's chief of staff amid fall-out from the Mandelson scandal
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) February 8, 2026
Updated
The government has announced reforms to apprenticeships aimed at helping more young people to take up training placements for skilled jobs.
In a press release published yesterday, the department for works and pensions (DWP) said:
Whether it’s new safety standards on building sites or the skills needed to construct and operate the latest offshore wind turbines, apprenticeships need to keep pace.
A new accelerated approach will mean updates to training or development of new short courses can be completed in as little as three months, ensuring the workforce is ready to deliver the major projects that will drive growth.
This forms as part of the Growth and Skills Levy reforms, delivering 50,000 more apprenticeships for young people backed by £725 million funding. These measures will play an integral role towards the government’s ambition to get two-thirds of young people into higher-level learning or apprenticeships.
Youth unemployment is high, owing in part to the continued impact of Covid and the cost of living crisis.
The reality for many young people is that they are applying for jobs alongside hundreds of applicants, for low-paying entry-level positions that ask for years of experience.
Bosses are prioritising automation through AI to plug skills gaps and allow them to reduce headcount, instead of training up junior members of staff, a report by the British Standards Institution (BSI) found. Labour has not acknowledged this reality in the DWP press release.
While the fallout of the release of the Epstein files has dominated UK politics for the last week, in France, the aftershock is also being felt.
My colleague Angelique Chrisafis reports on a veteran French politician quitting as head of prestigious institute after Epstein links revealed.
Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris’s prestigious Arab World Institute after revelations of his past contacts with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the launch of a financial investigation by French prosecutors.
Lang, 86, resigned on Saturday night before he was due to attend an urgent meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein. You can read more here:
Updated
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth refused to set out a timeline for a Welsh independence referendum.
He told Laura Kuenssberg earlier today that he wanted a referendum “as soon as the people of Wales are ready for it”.
The party, which stands for Welsh independence, won the Caerphilly byelection in November, beating the Reform candidate, who came in second.
Now, ap Iorwerth hopes he will become leader of the Welsh Senedd.
Updated
In case you missed our exclusive story yesterday, The Liberal Democrats have urged the UK’s financial regulator to immediately investigate Peter Mandelson, saying his apparent decision to leak highly confidential government information to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein may have led to insider trading.
You can read more here:
Cross-party pressure is mounting around the scandal. We reported earlier Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart was asked if he had any sympathy with Starmer, who said he was lied to when appointing Mandelson as US ambassador.
As Nigel Farage cut the ribbon on Reform UK’s byelection headquarters in Greater Manchester this week, Labour’s candidate, Angeliki Stogia, sat tearfully in a cafe nearby.
Politicians do not often show their emotion but for Stogia, who arrived in Britain as a student from Greece in 1995, this is personal. “I am angry,” she said of Farage’s party. “I am very, very angry. How dare they come here and spread this division?”
Her voice breaking, she added: “For them, this is a show. For me, this is my community. This is my people.”
Westminster byelections are often bruising affairs but the battle for Gorton and Denton is one of the most unpredictable contests, with the highest stakes, in years. Labour is fighting both Reform UK and the Green party to cling on to its 13,000-vote majority after the retirement last month of Andrew Gwynne, who stepped down after the “vile” Trigger Me Timbers WhatsApp scandal.
Starmer’s government is engulfed in crisis over Peter Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein, and defeat on 26 February is likely to prompt further calls for the prime minister to quit. You can read more here:
Updated
Peter Walker is senior political correspondent for the Guardian
Reform UK’s flagship council has been accused of telling a “blatant lie” after its claim of nearly £40m in savings on net zero was found to be based on hypothetical projects for which there was no documentation.
Kent county council, which has a £2.5bn annual budget, is one of 10 where Nigel Farage’s party has outright control and is seen as a test case for whether the insurgent party can govern competently.
Soon after being elected, the council leader, Linden Kemkaran, promised the party’s “department of local government efficiency”, or Dolge, would bring a “laser-like focus on getting value for money”.
The council’s leadership claimed it had found £100m in savings, £39.5m of which come from what it said was two net zero-related projects: £32m by scrapping a programme to make properties more environmentally friendly, and £7.5m by not making the council’s fleet of vehicles electric by 2030.
After Kemkaran announced these at a council meeting last July, Polly Billington, a Labour MP in Kent, requested details of the apparent savings via a freedom of information request, setting off a months-long battle with the council. You can read more here:
Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has said the government needs to introduce an “anti-corruption commission” to “root out any criminality in UK political life”.
In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Brown wrote:
We need an independent anti-corruption commission to be appointed by parliament, with the commissioner given the remit and power in law, as our review promised, to root out any criminality in UK political life by detecting and punishing it wherever and whenever it occurs.
And to remove all doubt as to our determination, parliament should be quite specific in naming “corruption” a new statutory offence, as the Law Commission has proposed and Transparency International has sought in the public office (accountability) bill going through parliament.
The anti-corruption champion, Margaret Hodge, has done her best with a limited remit, but the commissioner should have statutory powers of search and seizure and access to bank records, and all public bodies should be required to fully cooperate. Australia has led the way in introducing such an agency and that can be a blueprint for rapid reform.
Peter Mandelson was business secretary during Gordon Brown’s premiership, when he appears to have leaked an economic briefing to Jeffrey Epstein, who was serving a jail sentence at the time for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Lammy warned Starmer against appointing Mandelson as US ambassador - report
The deputy prime minister, David Lammy, warned Keir Starmer not to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington because of his links to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the Telegraph is reporting.
Lammy, who was the foreign secretary at the time, had backed extending the term of Karen Pierce as ambassador as she was viewed as being well-connected within the Trump administration’s team, according to the Telegraph, which has based its reporting on conversations with Lammy’s friends with knowledge on the subject.
The disclosure comes as it also emerged in a report by the Times that Angela Rayner had told friends that she warned Starmer not to appoint Mandelson as ambassador to the US last February.
The Times has been told that Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, privately warned Starmer that bringing Mandelson back into government would be an error as public evidence showed Mandelson and Epstein had maintained a close friendship despite Epstein’s conviction for child sex offences in 2008.
But Starmer is reported to have ignored Rayner’s advice and believed Mandelson’s claim that he “barely knew” Epstein.
Updated
The Guardian’s policy editor, Kiran Stacey, has a full report on the growing pressure on Peter Mandelson to hand back his US ambassador payout and the impact the scandal is having on Keir Starmer’s crumbling premiership:
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart said:
This administration under Keir Starmer has failed. It has U-turned, I think, what, 14 or 15 times now.
It has had two resets in the past five months, and it is now caught up in the worst political scandal of my lifetime.
And it’s time for a new type of politics. I think that type of politics is embodied by Kemi Badenoch, who is honest, straight-talking and decent, and I’m very proud to be part of her shadow cabinet.
Starmer's position is untenable, shadow minister says
Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart was asked if he had any sympathy with Starmer, who said he was lied to when appointing Mandelson as US ambassador.
Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, responded:
He was lied to by someone who was known to be a serial liar. There’s no excuse for the fact that he made the wrong judgment.
He was in possession of enough facts to have not made that appointment and he did anyway and I am afraid, Laura, he now has to take responsibility for that …
I don’t think his position is tenable. This is really an issue for the Labour party. The Labour party will have to decide whether it is going to remove him or not …
One of the things the Conservative opposition can do is table a motion of no confidence. There is no point in us doing that if other people won’t support it …
What we have said to Labour MPs is if they want to talk to our whips about that motion we will be very happy to have those conversations.
Updated
Fire Brigades Union boss calls for Starmer to go over Mandelson scandal
Meanwhile, Steve Wright, the head of the Fire Brigades’ Union, has became the first boss of a Labour-affiliated union to call on the prime minister to stand down.
Wright told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme:
I think everybody’s thinking it, and people are just not saying it at the moment.
And unfortunately we’re seeing MPs being wheeled out again today to sweep up the mess behind the prime minister at the moment.
And it seems that the prime minister isn’t taking advice from elected people within his own government. We’ve seen that he didn’t listen to the former deputy prime minister.
He hasn’t listened to his current deputy prime minister. He’s listening to a factional group which are making bad decisions, it seems.
And I want to see the change that was promised and that this country needs.
Wright has previously criticised Labour’s decision to block Andy Burnham from standing in the 26 February Gorton and Denton byelection and has warned against the threat from Reform UK.
Updated
Pat McFadden was interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg on her Sunday politics programme. Here are the key takeaways:
McFadden said Starmer made a “mistake” but acted in “good faith” when appointing Mandelson as US ambassador last year.
McFadden said there was no mention of Jeffrey Epstein on the day Mandelson was appointed in “many media circles” including the BBC.
McFadden said Starmer should “continue with what he is doing”, and said changing prime minister every “18 months to 2 years” has a damaging reputational and economic cost to the country.
McFadden said Starmer is “more frustrated than anyone” that damaging headlines since the new year have distracted from the government’s agenda, namely on the cost of living.
When asked if he thinks Starmer’s leadership is in big trouble, McFadden replied: “I don’t think it should be.”
Updated
Pat McFadden said Peter Mandelson, a former EU trade commissioner and ex-business secretary, was appointed ambassador to the US because he was seen as a skilled political operator with the Trump administration.
The work and pensions secretary told Sky News:
In the end the judgment was, they were looking for someone who could operate at the highest political level with the Trump administration, who knew business, who knew trade.
Now that turns out to have been the wrong decision, and it’s blown up in the most spectacular manner. But it’s important for your viewers to understand why on earth was this appointment made in the first place, and that is the reason.
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Starmer admits he 'made a bad mistake' but should stay PM as he has a 'five-year mandate', minister says
McFadden defended Keir Starmer and his embattled chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who are both under intense pressure over Mandelson’s ambassador appointment.
McFadden said:
I believe he (the prime minister) should stay. I think he’s got a five-year mandate, which was just voted for 18 months or so ago in a general election. His task is by no means complete, barely begun.
And I also think it is not good for the country to change its prime minister every 18 months or two years is leading to chaos and uncertainty, economically, politically and reputationally around the world.
So I know this has been a difficult week, but I think we should stick with the prime minister, support him. He admits he’s made a bad mistake here. He has apologised for it, and I’m sure he will learn from that going forward.
McFadden added that Starmer “has acted in good faith throughout this” and is “horrified” by the recent revelations about Mandelson’s ties with Epstein.
Although Starmer last week apologised for believing Mandelson’s “lies”, he did not apologise for giving him the job even though it was known at the time that Mandelson had continued his relationship with Epstein even after the latter had been convicted of trafficking a child for sex.
Asked whether McSweeney, who was close to Mandelson, should go, McFadden said: “I don’t think he should … In the end, it’s a prime ministerial appointment, and I think the stuff about Morgan McSweeney is sort of beside the point.”
Updated
The Metropolitan police is investigating Peter Mandelson over allegations of misconduct in public office. Police have already searched two properties connected to Mandelson as part of the investigation into claims that he passed market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein.
McFadden was asked by Trevor Phillips whether he was aware if the police had approached Keir Starmer during their inquiries into Mandelson. “I am not aware of that,” McFadden said. Starmer has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Minister says he feels angry and betrayed over Mandelson's actions
McFadden is asked how he feels given he has known Mandelson a long time. He says how he feels is secondary to the feelings of the “women who were involved in this”, which is the most important thing in what he describes as a “terrible tale”.
McFadden said:
How I feel is a mixture of bewilderment, anger … this is somebody I’ve known on a political level for 30 years.
I was his minister, junior minister, at the department of business during the financial crisis. And, you know, that was a time of all hands to the pumps, banks collapsing, businesses collapsing, people wondering whether they could keep their homes or not.
And the idea that he was live downloading some of the information about that to this person in America who I’d never heard of, for many years afterwards – it is shocking.
Asked if he feels “betrayed”. McFadden replied: “Yeah I do and it is a strange thing in politics that you can have a close political relationship with someone but there can be this entire other side of their life that you have no knowledge of and no involvement in whatsoever which has all exploded into the public realm.”
Sky's @TrevorPTweets asks Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, who worked alongside Peter Mandelson as a junior minister, if he feels 'betrayal' following the information that was released in the Epstein files about the former U.S. ambassador
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 8, 2026
https://t.co/MxZUFT3oKR pic.twitter.com/fT06Zml3h4
As a reminder, recent disclosures from the Epstein files appeared to suggest Peter Mandelson sent emails to Jeffrey Epstein containing confidential information that the government was receiving to deal with the global financial crash while he was business secretary under Gordon Brown. You can read more in our explainer here.
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Mandelson should hand back Foreign Office payoff or give it to charity, cabinet minister says
The work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, has spoken to Trevor Phillips on his Sky News politics programme.
McFadden was asked about the size of Mandelson’s payout from the Foreign Office. McFadden said he did not know how much Mandelson was entitled to, adding that figure would be negotiated between “him and his employers”.
Asked if he should give it back or donate it to charity on a moral basis, the minister said: “I think he probably should, yes. Either of those – either give it back or give it to a charity.
“Perhaps one involving violence against women and girls. I think taking a payoff in these circumstances, I don’t think the public will think much of that.”
Updated
Foreign Office to review Mandelson's reported five-figure US ambassador payoff
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics as speculation over Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister continues.
Peter Mandelson is under increasing pressure to return the payoff he received after being sacked as ambassador to the US in September over his friendship with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The taxpayer-funded payoff he received after being dismissed last year could be as high as £55,000 before tax and deductions, the Sunday Times reported, with the exit payment equivalent to three months’ salary from the Foreign Office.
Although the salary has not been publicly listed by the government, the US ambassador post usually ranks at the highest end in the diplomatic service – between £155,000 and £220,000 per year.
Full details about Mandelson’s payoff will be revealed to parliament after MPs backed a call for disclosure of papers relating to his time in the government.
Sources told the Sunday Times that Mandelson had asked for a much more money than he ended up receiving. We have not been able to independently verify the contents oft the Sunday Times’ report yet.
Allies of Starmer said the peer should give the taxpayer-funded handout back or donate it to a victims’ charity. The Foreign Office said a review had been launched “in light of further information that has now been revealed”.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said:
Peter Mandelson’s civil service employment was terminated in accordance with legal advice and the terms and conditions of his employment.
Normal civil services HR processes were followed. Further information will be provided to parliament as part of the government response to the motion passed last week which is being coordinated by the Cabinet Office.
