Starmer faces fresh crisis as key aide quits and admits prior knowledge of Mandelson-Epstein emails

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday confronted mounting political turmoil after his director of strategy resigned and he acknowledged being aware that officials were investigating further emails between former Labour peer Peter Mandelson and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Paul Ovenden resigned from his role at No. 10 after messages from 2017 were disclosed that contained crude remarks about Labour veteran Diane Abbott, Downing Street said. The departure came less than two weeks after the government launched a widely publicised relaunch of its programme and follows the recent removal of Lord Mandelson from the post of UK ambassador to the United States.

Starmer said he was "angry" about what he described as a lack of candour from Lord Mandelson and that, had he known the full details at the time, he would not have appointed him. No. 10 confirmed the prime minister had known of Mandelson's friendship with Epstein, including that Mandelson had stayed at Epstein's home while Epstein was serving a prison sentence for child sex offences. The prime minister said he had also been aware that the Foreign Office was investigating additional emails between Mandelson and Epstein when he defended the peer in the House of Commons last week, but that he had not known the content of those emails.

Downing Street described the messages attributed to Ovenden as "appalling and unacceptable." Allies of the departing aide criticised the prime minister for not standing by him, and the resignations have fuelled questions about judgment and morale within Labour's governing team.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged the prime minister to "come clean" about what he knew and when, and accused Starmer of going "into hiding" following Mandelson's removal. The Conservatives have formally requested the release of what they termed the "Mandelson files" to establish exactly what the government knew at the time of the appointment. The party also secured a three-hour emergency debate in the Commons on the matter.

Labour figures expressed unease over the party's trajectory. Former frontbencher Andy McDonald said "morale is very low" and called for a change of course from the leadership. Helen Hayes, chair of the Commons education committee, warned there would be "questions about the nature of the leadership" unless the party's fortunes improved before next May's local elections in England, Scotland and Wales. Left-wing MP Richard Burgon said Starmer could be "gone by next May" unless he shifted the government to the left.

The departures add to a turbulent run for the prime minister since he launched what aides termed "Phase Two" of his government. In recent days Labour has also coped with the resignation of Angela Rayner from a frontbench role and the removal of a cabinet minister over tax issues, developments that opponents have used to argue the government is distracted from broader policy priorities.

Pressure has also grown on the prime minister's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who championed Mandelson's diplomatic appointment. Several Labour MPs called for scrutiny of the chief of staff's role in the appointment process, and the party sought to steady its ranks as ministers worked to progress other elements of the government's agenda.

Labour ministers said they would focus on restoring confidence in government delivery and urged MPs to avoid internecine conflict. Education minister Jacqui Smith urged colleagues to concentrate on "building back people's confidence that government can make a difference for them," while other senior figures warned that further electoral setbacks would intensify leadership questions.

The controversy has added diplomatic sensitivity to the calendar. Officials continued to manage preparations for a state visit by former US president Donald Trump, due to begin on Monday evening, amid the wider political distraction. Separately, the right-wing Reform UK party said it had won another defection from the Conservatives, naming former Tory MP Danny Kruger as joining its ranks.

The immediate political outlook will be shaped by parliamentary scrutiny of the Mandelson matter, the handling of the Ovenden revelations and the government's ability to refocus public attention on policy delivery. Labour faces local elections next May that party figures say will be a barometer of public confidence in its first full year in office.