Few public videos exist of Morgan McSweeney, and by the looks of it, even fewer recordings of his voice.
Until he was appointed chief of staff by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in October 2024, photos of the 48-year-old Cork man were few and far between.
However, upon his appointment, former BBC newsreader Emily Maitlis’s podcast The News Agents labelled Mr McSweeney as “the most powerful man in politics”.
He was central to the rise of Keir Starmer to the top job in British politics and is regarded as the man behind the party’s shift away from the politics of activism and Jeremy Corbyn towards a socially conservative approach, aligned more closely with a movement known as ‘Blue Labour’.
Fast forward 16 months and Labour MPs are calling for his head.
Mr McSweeney is embroiled in a scandal over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK Ambassador to the US.
While it has not been confirmed, it has been widely reported that Mr McSweeney was instrumental in handing the job to Mr Mandelson, who continued to have a working relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction.
One Labour MP, speaking anonymously, said Mr McSweeney “needs to go, he’s a total liability and like Mandelson is only interested in himself”.
Move to London and Labour rise
Born in Macroom in Co Cork in 1977, Morgan McSweeney departed for London at the age of 17.
Like many other young Irish people in London, he worked on building sites, before going to university, where he would drop out within 12 months.
Unlike many other young Irish people, Mr McSweeney spent six months living in a kibbutz in Israel, as recorded in Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund’s book ‘Get In: The Inside Story of Labour under Starmer’.
At the age of 21 he went to university again, this time studying politics and marketing.
He joined the Labour Party, inspired by the Good Friday Agreement, and in 2001 began working as an intern at Labour HQ.
In 2006, Mr McSweeney worked on current Housing Secretary Steve Reed’s campaign for the Lambeth London Borough Council election, where he helped the party gain control of the council, against a wider trend towards the Conservative Party.
Mr McSweeney would go on to work on a campaign opposing the rise of the British National Party and in 2015 ran the leadership campaign for Liz Kendall, who received less than 5% of the vote.
However, it was in 2017 when Mr McSweeney’s rise began to build up a head of steam.
It was then when he became director of the think tank, Labour Together, a group whose key aim was to oppose Corbynism and find a way to move the party away from the so-called ‘hard left’.
Starmer’s right-hand man
Shortly after Mr McSweeney’s arrival, Labour Together decided on Keir Starmer as the ideal candidate to make this goal a reality.
Speaking on The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast, journalist Patrick Maguire, co-author of the book on Labour under Keir Starmer, said Mr McSweeney “handpicked Keir Starmer as the leadership candidate” to take on the ‘hard left’ in 2020 and ever since has been the author of Labour’s political strategy.
Mr Starmer subsequently chose Mr McSweeney as his chief of staff after his election as Labour leader in 2020 but moved the Cork native to a “strategic role” in his office following a failed by-election result for the party.
While in opposition, Labour rebranded itself to have Union Jacks in the logo while God Save the King would now be sung at party conferences, the latter a move which Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund reported came straight from Mr McSweeney.
Mr McSweeney was appointed head of political strategy after Labour’s ascension to government in 2024, an election victory in which Mr McSweeney’s role was widely lauded.
While he is known for being guarded and shirking publicity, Morgan McSweeney has finally taken his place in a long line of Downing Street advisers who have claimed the British media spotlight.
Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings dominated the headlines after his lockdown-breaking trip to Barnard Castle in 2020.
Tony Blair’s director of communications Alastair Campbell was dubbed as “the real deputy prime minister” and was the inspiration for Malcolm Tucker, the foul-mouth Scottish strategist in the BBC political comedy series The Thick of It.
While Mr McSweeney may not become fodder for future political dramas, or farces, his influence over the current prime minister cannot be overstated.
Mr McSweeney was appointed Downing Street Chief of Staff in October 2024 after the resignation of Sue Gray following a row over her pay, which was revealed to be higher than the prime minister’s.
Mandelson appointment and the fallout
Last year, less than a year into the role, Mr McSweeney found himself in the line of fire.
Labour Together, the think tank he had previously headed up, was found to have failed to declare donations within 30 days of receiving them and was subsequently fined £14,250 in 2021.
The issue reared its head again in September last year when Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake wrote to the Electoral Commission calling for a fresh investigation into Mr McSweeney.
He accused Mr McSweeney of “hiding a secret slush fund he used to install Keir Starmer as Labour leader”.
The issue eventually blew over with the Electoral Commission confirming no new inquiry would take place into Labour Together or Mr McSweeney.
Mr McSweeney drew further attention last year when Mr Starmer faced calls to sack him, over anonymous briefings which claimed that Health Secretary Wes Streeting was seeking the Labour leadership.
Mr Starmer later said that the briefings did not come from Downing Street and Mr Streeting also confirmed that he had confidence in Mr McSweeney.
While those incidents may have blighted Mr McSweeney’s name, the ultimate effect of the Mandelson appointment and its fallout remains to be seen.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed, who worked closely with Mr McSweeney in previous campaigns, insisted that both Mr Starmer and Mr McSweeney are safe in their jobs.
He claimed they were not “at fault” and were lied to by Peter Mandelson over the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You’re only as good as the information you receive,” Mr Reed said.
However, backbench MPs continue to lay the blame firmly at the feet of Mr McSweeney with one saying he has “got to go”.
This afternoon, Keir Starmer apologised to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson and for “believing his lies”.
Mr Starmer has said he has full confidence in Mr McSweeney.
Read more: Starmer says he is ‘sorry for believing Mandelson’s lies’
