Top staff desert UK PM amid Epstein scandal fallout

Keir Starmer’s communications director has stepped down a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff resigned

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s director of communications, Tim Allan, has quit amid the continuing fallout linking a senior Labour Party figure to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer has been severely damaged by his decision to appoint party colleague Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the US, despite his known links to Epstein. Mandelson quit the diplomatic post last September and resigned from the Labour Party and the House of Lords after the latest batch of Epstein files was published last month.

Allan announced his resignation on Monday, a day after Starmer’s chief of staff quit, stating the move would allow the prime minister to build a “new team.”

“I have decided to stand down to allow a new No10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success,” the now ex-comms director said in a statement. Allan, who served as an adviser to Tony Blair from ⁠1992 to 1998, was tapped for his latest post at Downing Street last September.

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The resignation comes after another senior aide to the prime minister, his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, stepped down from his post. McSweeney said he took “full responsibility” for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson despite his Epstein ties.

“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,” McSweeney said.

Starmer, who had declared his “full confidence” in McSweeney last week, defying calls to sack his aide, thanked him for his work, stating both he and his party owe the now-former official “a debt of gratitude.” Previously, the UK leader apologized to Epstein’s victims over his decision to appoint Mandelson. 

Starmer’s opponents have urged him to take responsibility for his decisions and step down from his post. Reform UK accused the government of only causing “chaos” with its actions, while the Scottish National Party demanded that the prime minister resign.