Sir Keir Starmer has lost another top aide after his head of communications confirmed she is leaving Downing Street on the eve of Labour’s conference.
Steph Driver is the latest of several of the prime minister’s closest staff to depart No 10 in recent weeks.
She follows Paul Ovenden, who stepped down earlier this month over a series of sexually explicit messages he had exchanged about Labour’s Diane Abbott.
The PM also lost his ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, in the scandal surrounding his links with Jeffrey Epstein, and his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, when she resigned over her tax affairs.
Sir Keir’s communications chief Matthew Doyle, whom Ms Driver worked under as his deputy, quit earlier this year after a series of mishaps that followed the general election.
James Lyons, a former TikTok executive who worked alongside Ms Driver after Mr Doyle’s departure, also left in September after less than a year in the job.
Responding to Ms Driver’s departure, Sir Keir said: “Steph Driver has been a loyal and valued member of my team for almost five years. Steph played a leading role in transforming the Labour Party and delivering our historic general election win.
“I will forever be grateful for her calm, wise counsel, leadership and humour. I wish her all the best in her undoubted onward success.”
Ms Driver told The Guardian: “It has been an honour to work with and advise Keir through opposition and into government. Being part of the team to rebuild and rebrand the Labour Party before securing a historic general election victory is an achievement and experience like no other.
“I’m also proud of what this government has already delivered, and thank the sharp and talented No 10 press team for their hard work and support during my tenure. I’m grateful to the prime minister for his continued faith in me and my work, and for his offer of an open door in the future. His Labour government has my unwavering support.”
The move comes at one of the most perilous moments of Sir Keir’s premiership, with backbench MPs circling and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham considering a bid to oust the beleaguered PM.
The latest changes to his top political team have come amid a wider reset of his government, during which he reshuffled his cabinet and junior ministerial positions. At the centre of the reset was Shabana Mahmood’s move from justice secretary to the Home Office, where she will take on the central mission of bringing down the number of boats crossing the English Channel. Another key move was the promotion of Darren Jones from Rachel Reeves’s deputy in the Treasury to a new role of chief secretary to the prime minister.
It comes against the backdrop of the government’s stalled efforts to get the economy growing and boost voters’ living standards, and with the chancellor’s make-or-break November Budget looming.
