Starmer’s communications director quits, 2nd top aide to go in a day over Epstein scandal

By Reuters 9 February 2026, 1:47 pm

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(COMBO) This combination of file photos created on February 5, 2026 shows Jeffrey Epstein in an undated handout photo obtained July 11, 2019 courtesy of the New York State Sex Offender Registry (L); British Labour MP and former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson (C) speaking during a press conference in London on January 30, 2013; and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) inside 10 Downing Street in London on September 16, 2025. (Photo by New York State Sex Offender Registry / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan resigned on Monday, a day after Starmer’s top aide Morgan McSweeney quit over his role in backing Peter Mandelson over his known links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The loss of two senior aides in quick succession comes as Starmer tries to draw a line under the crisis in his government resulting from his appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the US.

“I have decided to stand down to allow a new No. 10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success,” Allan said in a statement on Monday.

Allan served as an adviser to Tony Blair from 1992 to 1998 and went on to found and lead one of the country’s foremost public affairs consultancies in 2001. In September 2025, he was appointed executive director of communications at Downing Street.