Who is Morgan McSweeney? Starmer’s right-hand man and Peter Mandelson ally
Anger among Labor MPs over Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal has raised questions about his political future; His trusted chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, was also under intense scrutiny.
Mr McSweeney, seen as an ally of his disgraced counterpart, is seen as the driving force behind Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
This was despite Mandelson’s alleged knowledge that their relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein continued after the financier was convicted of child sex crimes.
As the Prime Minister’s right-hand man, Mr McSweeney plays a central role in the government’s strategy and decision-making.
As a result, he is seen by some as responsible for Downing Street’s failed attempt to control the publication of potentially explosive documents detailing the appointment decision.
Mr McSweeney was born in County Cork but left Ireland in 1994, aged 17, for London, where he is said to have initially worked on building sites.
He joined the Labor Party in 1997 because of support for the Good Friday Agreement, which was key to the Northern Ireland peace process.
According to his Linkedin profile, he took a job as a Labor Party conference manager in June 2001.
Reports say he was later recruited to work in Labour’s “attack and rebuttal unit” at the party’s Millbank headquarters, where he was tasked with adding information to the “excalibur” database informing Peter Mandelson’s campaign messages.
It is also said that he was sent to campaign in marginal seats during the 2005 general election as his reputation as an effective organizer and operator began to grow.
He was seen as a key figure in the successful attempt, led by current Communities Minister Steve Reed, to unseat the coalition of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives in the London borough of Lambeth.
After failing in his bid to become a councilor in Sutton in 2006, he was appointed head of Mr Reed’s leadership office in Southwark, a position he held until October 2007.
After serving as communities manager at consultancy The Campaign Company, Mr McSweeney joined the Local Government Association as a political adviser and was later appointed head of the organisation’s Labor Party group office, a role he held until 2017.
During this time, he ran Liz Kendall’s leadership campaign in 2015, which resulted in the current Science Secretary coming in fourth.
Mr McSweeney was appointed director of the Labor Together think tank in 2017, sharing a seat on the board with Mr Reed and current Culture Minister Lisa Nandy.
At the time, he was said to have announced his intention to move the party, then led by Jeremy Corbyn, from the “hard left” and “build a sustainable, winning electoral coalition”.
But Mr McSweeney later came under scrutiny for financial irregularities during his tenure at Labor Together.
In 2021, the Electoral Commission fined the think tank £14,250 for failing to submit donation reports within 30 days, incorrectly reporting donations and failing to appoint a responsible person within 30 days of accepting the donation.
The Conservatives called on the regulator to re-examine the case in September last year after emails apparently sent to Mr McSweeney by a Labor Together lawyer were leaked.
The regulator said its review of the information did not provide “evidence of any other potential wrongdoing”, despite Conservative Party chairman Kevin Holinrake suggesting the emails could be evidence that the Electoral Commission had been misled.
Mr McSweeney was appointed to run Sir Keir’s successful 2020 leadership campaign and initially became his private secretary.
But following Labour’s poor showing in the Chesham and Amersham by-elections in 2021, he has been appointed to a strategic role in the leader’s office but is said to remain as a key adviser.
After being appointed as Labour’s campaign director in September 2021, Mr McSweeney is said to be behind an effort to impose a new central parliamentary candidate list in what is seen as an attempt to exclude those to the left of the party.
Labour’s election victory in 2024 resulted in Mr McSweeney being appointed to the joint role of head of political strategy.
Later reports suggested tensions had developed between Mr McSweeney and then-chief of staff Sue Gray, but Labor Party sources gave conflicting views about the relationship at the time.
Following Ms Gray’s resignation, Mr McSweeney was appointed Downing Street chief of staff in October 2024.
Along with the Prime Minister, he is facing questions about his political decisions following the sacking of Lord Mandelson.
In what appeared to be a defense of his close ally, the Prime Minister insisted on Wednesday that “none of us know the depths of darkness” over Lord Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted sex offender.
But the strength of sentiment in Labor and beyond means the future of a man seen as one of the most influential figures on the political left and a key player in Sir Keir’s bid to become Prime Minister is shrouded in uncertainty.
