Grapevine

UK PM Starmer's chief of staff quits after talk of in-fighting

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reacts as he meets with Defence Secretary John Healey and Member of the House of Lords George Robertson at 10 Downing Street on July 16, 2024 in London, England.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff Sue Gray resigned on Sunday following rumors about tensions within his team of advisers that cast a shadow over his government little more than three months after a landslide election victory.

Gray, a former senior civil servant, was the subject of leaks to the media about her pay last month and she was blamed by some officials, speaking anonymously to the media, for Starmer's difficult start in Downing Street.

"In recent weeks it has become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government's vital work of change," Gray said in a statement.

Starmer led the Labour Party to a sweeping victory in July, promising discipline and change after 14 years of Conservative Party rule. But his time in office has already been dogged by criticism of free gifts from wealthy donors that he and other Labour politicians received.

Starmer has repaid thousands of pounds worth of the gifts, his office said last week, but the figures have been politically damaging at a time when his government is cutting financial help for energy bills for millions of pensioners.