Keir Starmer has begun a shake-up of No 10, including replacing an aide whose appointment had been a key battleground amid the departure of Sue Gray last autumn.
Nin Pandit, the prime minister’s top civil service aide, is to leave her role after less than 10 months. Sources at No 10 denied she had quit and said she would step into a new policy delivery role and the prime minister would now take more direct control of delivery.
The Guardian understands that Pandit, once praised by Dominic Cummings as one of “the brilliant women around the table” who would have done the job of prime minister “10 times better” than Boris Johnson, will be replaced by Dan York-Smith as Starmer’s principal private secretary.
York-Smith’s appointment will be taken as a sign of No 10’s need to beef up economic expertise. It has long been rumoured that Starmer wanted to appoint more economic and infrastructure experts to his policy unit but no appointments have been announced. York-Smith is an experienced Treasury official, who has led economic strategy for six chancellors and oversees tax and welfare at the Treasury.
Downing Street sources said there were more changes to come but said they believed the cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, was safe in his role, despite briefings that several colleagues believe he has been ineffective.
A No 10 source denied Pandit was being sacked or demoted and said she had the full confidence of the prime minister and would remain a key part of the operation. Her new role has not yet been named.
Pandit is a former NHS digital executive who joined No 10 to focus on health policy. She became director of its policy unit and then the prime minister’s principal private secretary.
Her appointment as Starmer’s principal private secretary – one of the most vital roles in government – turned into a battle last autumn when Sue Gray had hoped to appoint the civil servant Daniel Gieve to the role. At the time, Pandit had the backing of Morgan McSweeney, who replaced Gray as Starmer’s chief of staff after Gray’s acrimonious departure.
Starmer is also expected to undertake a reshuffle of junior ministerial roles including promoting rising stars from the new intake. At least one role is still vacant after Rushanara Ali, the former homelessness minister, quit shortly before recess because of reports about her conduct as a landlord.
