In a dramatic shake-up at the heart of British politics, Sir Keir Starmer has appointed his two deputy chiefs of staff, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, as joint acting chiefs of staff following the sudden resignation of Morgan McSweeney. The move, announced on February 8, 2026, comes amid a storm of controversy surrounding the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington—a decision that has triggered a criminal investigation and cast a long shadow over Starmer’s leadership.
Morgan McSweeney’s exit is more than just a change of personnel. For years, he has been the invisible hand guiding Starmer’s political strategy—a man so elusive that, as BBC notes, it’s nearly impossible to find a clip of his voice. McSweeney’s influence on the Labour Party has been profound. He played a key role in shifting the party away from its Corbyn-era roots, helping Starmer regain control and pivot to a centrist platform that ultimately delivered a general election landslide. Yet, as The Independent reports, his advice to appoint Lord Mandelson—despite Mandelson’s links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—proved to be a fatal misstep.
The scandal erupted after millions of new documents, known as the "Epstein files," were released, prompting police to launch a criminal investigation into claims that Mandelson passed sensitive information to Epstein. The fallout was swift. Mandelson was sacked from his post in September 2025, but the revelations continued to haunt Downing Street. In a public statement following his resignation, McSweeney said, "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."
Starmer, for his part, moved quickly to steady the ship. Addressing the victims of Epstein directly on February 5, 2026, he offered a rare and heartfelt apology: "I am sorry, sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again." According to The Guardian, Starmer has vowed to maintain a "relentless" focus on the cost of living, determined not to let the crisis derail his government’s agenda.
The appointments of Alakeson and Cuthbertson are being seen as both a moment of continuity and a missed opportunity for change. As reported by Politico, some Labour insiders describe the reaction as a "collective shrug." While both women are regarded as safe pairs of hands, there are those within the party who believe the moment called for a more radical reset. "They’re both very talented, but what a waste," one minister lamented. "This was a wasted last chance to properly reset the narrative with the PLP [parliamentary Labour party]." Another insider joked about Starmer’s indecisiveness: "‘Do you want Vidhya or Jill?’ ‘Yes.’"
So who are the two women now tasked with righting the course of Starmer’s embattled administration? Vidhya Alakeson, 49, brings a wealth of experience to the role. She has served as Labour’s director of external relations since 2022 and, more recently, as deputy chief of staff responsible for policy and delivery within Downing Street. Before joining Starmer’s team, she was chief executive of Power to Change, a National Lottery-backed trust focused on strengthening communities through local business. Alakeson’s background also includes time at the influential Resolution Foundation think tank, and she was awarded an OBE in 2021 for her contributions to social equality. As The Independent notes, her academic pedigree includes degrees from Oxford and LSE, and she was privately educated at Wimbledon High School for girls. Alakeson divides opinion inside Number 10; while one insider describes her as “the best of the best,” another criticizes her for indecisiveness, saying she “blows in the wind and is completely incapable of making decisions and sticking to them.”
Jill Cuthbertson, meanwhile, is described as a “more unifying figure” within Downing Street. A longstanding Labour adviser, she has served as private secretary to both Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, and as director of Keir Starmer’s office from 2021 to 2024. Her experience managing high-stakes political logistics is widely respected—“No one can do high-stakes political logistics like Jill,” one insider told The Times. Cuthbertson also played a significant role in the 2016 Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, which sought to keep the UK in the EU. Interestingly, she is married to Mo Hussein, a former Conservative special adviser, whom she met during the Remain campaign. As reported by the BBC, Cuthbertson has been described by Baroness Deborah Mattinson as “completely brilliant.”
Both women face daunting challenges. They step into their new roles at a moment of profound uncertainty, with Number 10 described by some commentators as being “holed below the waterline.” The Labour Party is still reeling from the Mandelson scandal, and questions linger about the vetting process that allowed his appointment to proceed despite well-publicized links to Epstein. As one McSweeney loyalist told the BBC, “Morgan was duped like many of us. He’s saved the party. A lot of MPs and the cabinet know they owe their jobs to him. But the noise is too much of a distraction and ultimately he’s a Labour man.”
Starmer’s administration is also under pressure from within. As the BBC notes, backbench Labour MPs—particularly the 37 Scottish Labour MPs—are being courted in a charm offensive ahead of the May 2026 Holyrood elections. Many privately believe that Starmer is a drag on their chances, and the coming weeks will test his political resilience and pragmatism as never before. The appointments of Alakeson and Cuthbertson, announced as “acting” due to the need for a quick replacement, may well become permanent. For now, they represent stability in a time of turbulence, but also continuity when some in the party are clamoring for change.
As the dust settles, it remains to be seen whether the new joint chiefs of staff can help Starmer navigate the treacherous waters ahead. For a government rocked by scandal and facing mounting political headwinds, the stakes could hardly be higher.