Labour’s weakness lies in its lack of a cohesive political vision. Replacing personnel won’t fix this

The first rule of being a political adviser is to stay out of the headlines. Sir Keir Starmer’s appointment of Sue Gray as his chief of staff made news. However, since Labour’s general election victory, she has been the subject of intense and largely negative media scrutiny. During her time in office, Ms Gray stirred discontent by tightly controlling access to Sir Keir, modelling her approach, it seemed, after Jonathan Powell, the influential chief of staff behind Tony Blair’s inner circle, who wielded enough power to determine the fate of cabinet ministers. With the public mood souring on Sir Keir, Ms Gray was made a scapegoat.

Voters are unlikely to be impressed by a reset that the prime minister was forced into. Downing Street’s new chief of staff is Morgan McSweeney, who clashed with Ms Gray, as did his supporters among the ranks of Labour’s functionaries. It’s not hard to draw conclusions about the changing of the guard. As lawyers often ask: cui bono (who benefits)? Mr McSweeney, who played a pivotal role in orchestrating Labour’s election victory, worked closely with his ally in the Cabinet Office, Pat McFadden. Mr McFadden has been spearheading efforts to create a unit in Downing Street focused on delivering Sir Keir’s five missions: growth, the NHS, green energy, education, and crime reduction.