Starmer's Comms Chief Tim Allan Quits Downing Street as Mandelson Crisis Claims Second Senior Aide

Tim Allan, director of communications at 10 Downing Street, resigned on Monday, becoming the second senior member of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's inner circle to depart in less than 24 hours as the fallout from the Peter Mandelson ambassadorship scandal continues to engulf the Labour government.

Allan, who had held the role for just five months after being appointed in September 2025, issued a terse statement: "I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success" Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

His departure follows Sunday's resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Starmer's powerful chief of staff and the man widely regarded as the architect of Labour's 2024 general election victory. McSweeney said he took "full responsibility" for advising Starmer to appoint Lord Mandelson as British ambassador to Washington despite the peer's well-documented relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

"The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself," McSweeney wrote in his resignation statement. "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" Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

The twin resignations mark the deepest crisis of Starmer's premiership and have left questions about the prime minister's own judgment at the centre of the political storm.

A revolving door at No 10 communications

Allan was the fourth director of communications to leave under Starmer's leadership . A former deputy press secretary to Tony Blair who went on to found the influential PR consultancy Portland, he had been brought back into government as part of a broader September 2025 reshuffle intended to stabilise the Downing Street operation Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

His appointment was itself contentious. Shortly after Allan arrived, Steph Driver, the head of day-to-day communications, resigned amid concerns that Allan had effectively been recruited above her Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success.. Some critics also raised questions about Portland's client roster Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

Opposition pressure mounts

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch moved quickly to keep pressure on the prime minister himself, telling the BBC on Monday that Starmer had allowed McSweeney to "carry the can" for what was ultimately the PM's own decision Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

"Keir Starmer knew, he knew. It is his judgment and the fact that he has been dishonest — he claimed not to know, then he changed his story and claimed that he had been lied to," Badenoch said Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

The opposition argument is straightforward: McSweeney may have recommended Mandelson, but Starmer approved the appointment and must account for that choice.

Government defence

Skills minister Jacqui Smith, speaking on behalf of the government, insisted McSweeney's departure was his own decision. She told Sky News that McSweeney "thought about the position that he was in, and particularly the extent to which he'd become the story, and decided that the best thing for the government that he had worked hard to ensure got into power was able to carry on doing the work for the country" Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

When asked directly whether Starmer himself might resign, Downing Street was blunt: "No. The prime minister is concentrating on the job in hand" Keir Starmer’s comms chief Tim Allan quits Downing Streetpolitico.eu·SecondaryLONDON — Keir Starmer’s director of communications resigned Monday, marking the second high-profile exit from the British prime minister’s crisis-hit team in less than 24 hours. Tim Allan, who previously served as an adviser to Tony Blair, was only appointed Downing Street director of communications in September 2025. In a statement, Allan said: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

What comes next

Senior Labour sources have warned that McSweeney's departure leaves Starmer "dangerously exposed" heading into a series of policy and electoral tests, including the Gorton and Denton by-election later in February Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

"Keir has just lost his firewall, on Mandelson and a whole load of other issues. Where does he think the anger gets directed next?" one source close to Downing Street told The Guardian Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

McSweeney also called for a "fundamental overhaul" of the vetting process for political appointments in the wake of the Mandelson affair, warning that reforms "cannot simply be a gesture but a safeguard for the future" Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan steps downtheguardian.com·SecondaryExclusive: Decision follows departure of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over Peter Mandelson scandal Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after only five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also departed. Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success..

The immediate challenge for Starmer is filling both vacancies while managing a parliamentary Labour party that is growing increasingly restive. With two of the most senior figures in his operation now gone, the prime minister faces the unenviable task of rebuilding his team while simultaneously trying to convince both his party and the public that his own judgment can still be trusted.