Labour aide quits after explicit messages; author says upcoming tell-all holds more revelations

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s director of strategy, Paul Ovenden, resigned on Monday after explicit, derogatory messages about senior Labour MP Diane Abbott that were sent in 2017 came to light and were disclosed in internal party communications.

The messages are among the material cited in an upcoming book by Paul Holden, titled The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney and the Crisis of British Democracy, which the author and publisher say contains further revelations about senior figures in and around No. 10. Holden told media he expected “a lot more revelations” to emerge, and OR Books, the publisher, described Ovenden’s messages as “the tip of the iceberg.”

Ovenden was a close ally of Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney. Holden said the book examines a “narrow political project” that now occupies “some of the most powerful positions in the country” and that it touches on people in government, in Cabinet and advisers in No. 10. He declined to name other individuals before publication, which is due next month.

The disclosures come amid a string of recent difficulties for the prime minister. In the past two weeks, Labour has coped with the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over a tax row, a rapid ministerial reshuffle and the removal of Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States following revelations about links to Jeffrey Epstein. The departure of Ovenden from Starmer’s inner circle has further fuelled concerns about instability at No. 10.

Left-wing commentators and former Labour figures quoted by the publisher said the book could be damaging. Columnist Owen Jones described it as “devastating” and predicted “a lot more damning revelations to come.” Alex Nunns, a former speechwriter for Jeremy Corbyn, said he had heard the manuscript contained “lots of other revelations Starmer and McSweeney really don’t need right now.” Zarah Sultana, an ex-Labour MP now launching a new party with Corbyn, called the book “damning and deeply evidenced.”

Labour has not provided a detailed public account of its internal review of the messages. A Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister expects his team to adhere to professional standards and that personnel matters were a matter for No. 10. Ovenden’s resignation reduces the number of senior aides in the PM’s immediate strategic team and raises questions about the resilience of Starmer’s planned move into what aides have described as a second phase of government.

Holden and OR Books framed the work as an examination of the direction of the Labour Party under Starmer and of the advisers who have helped shape policy and messaging since he became leader. The publisher said it had additional corroborating material for the claims in the book, but press extracts and wider sourcing have not yet been released to the public.

Publication of the book is expected to coincide with continued scrutiny of No. 10 staffing and conduct. Labour’s frontbench, opposition parties and independent commentators are likely to press for answers about the extent of derogatory messaging within the party’s communications systems and what disciplinary steps, if any, were taken at the time the messages were sent.

For now, the resignation of a senior strategist and the prospect of further disclosures add to a period of turbulence for the government, with aides and ministers facing questions about judgment, oversight and internal culture as focus shifts to the book’s full contents when it appears next month.