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Sir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure as Labour heavyweights warned he has lost his grip on the political narrative after he was forced to accept the resignation of his chief of staff over the weekend. Sue Gray stepped down on Sunday to take on a new role for the government.
Baroness Harriet Harman, the former Labour deputy leader, said the turmoil that culminated in her resignation has been “uncomfortable” for the prime minister, warning that nobody wants to see political infighting on the front pages of newspapers.
Alastair Campbell, who was Tony Blair’s communications chief in No 10, denied that the current situation is a “complete irrecoverable shambles”, but warned: “You cannot make too many missteps in government.”
He said: “Government is harder than opposition. Labour governments are held to a much higher standard than Tory governments. I hope this is the reset that is needed”.
Mr Campbell said the “winter fuel announcement dropping out of the sky” is an example of Labour not talking to the country. “You add that to the freebies stuff it again spoke against the narrative with which they won the election which was all very high standards in public life,” he added.
John McTernan, who was Sir Tony’s political secretary, also criticised Sir Keir’s administration, saying the government has “completely lost grip”, warning it is “delivering drift” rather than change.
He told Times Radio the government has “lacked a political narrative and the political drive and the momentum that drove them through the election to a great victory”.
Baroness Harman said she hoped Ms Gray’s resignation would mark a reset, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This has been a squall. It has been uncomfortable.
“Nobody wants to see it on the front pages of the newspapers, nobody wants to see it leading the news especially with what else is going on in the world. Hopefully this will be the reset.”
She added: “It’s often the case if you have been out of power for a long time and you get in, there are missteps, there is clunkiness.”
She also praised Ms Gray for her “completely honest, hard-working” character, adding: “I always found her excellent to work with.”
Since Labour won the election in July there have been a series of briefings against Ms Gray. She will take up a new role in government after admitting she had become a “distraction”, not least over revelations of her £170,000 salary, some £3,000 more than the prime minister’s.
The move is part of a wider backroom reshuffle after some private criticism by ministers of the way the communications strategy was being run.
But Andrew Fisher, Jeremy Corbyn’s former director of policy, warned Ms Gray’s sacking "may reduce some of the internal rows but ultimately the problems the Labour government has faced in its early weeks have been due to the decisions of politicians.”
He said: "The decision to cut the winter fuel allowance has negatively impacted their polling. Also, the taking of freebies. It wasn’t Sue Gray holding a gun to Keir Starmer’s head saying, ‘take these free suits’ or to Bridget Phillipson ‘take these free Taylor Swift concert tickets’.”
But defence secretary John Healey said that “sadly it’s nothing new” to see a senior staffer in No 10 become “a lightning rod for criticism”.
He said Sir Keir’s administration owes Ms Gray for her “massive role” in helping it prepare for office but added: “I really respect her decision to step aside.”
Asked whether he would have accused the Tories of being a “total shambles” if their chief of staff had stood down within three months in office, Mr Healey said: “In the end what counts for people is what government does. We’re getting on with the job people elected us [to do].”
Asked whether he thinks the first 100 days of government have been a success, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “It’s up to the public to decide whether the first 100 days of the government have been a success.”
Foreign secretary David Lammy praised Sue Gray as a “superb public servant” and defended the government’s record during its first three months in office.
“I’m very pleased that over these 100 days, we’ve been able to speed up our support to Ukraine. I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to move forward with the establishment of GB Energy, that my colleague Wes Streeting has been able to settle the dispute with junior doctors and get on with the business of turning around our National Health Service”, he told journalists on a visit to a synagogue in South Tottenham.
He added: “This is a government pledged to serve. There is much to do. It’s a young government, and we get on with the work ahead of us.”
Downing Street has been contacted for comment.
