One person, each day, to help make sense of the election.
He usually flies under the radar, but Labour’s director of campaigns is one of the most powerful people in the party. McSweeney first started working with Keir Starmer when Starmer was campaigning to become party leader. After helping clinch that contest, he became Starmer’s chief of staff and top adviser. He now has a wide-ranging role overseeing the campaign. Before the election date was named he was already one of a tiny handful of people purging residual Corbynites and would-be troublemakers. His wife, Imogen Walker, made it through the parliamentary candidates’ selection process and is standing for Labour in Hamilton and Clyde Valley. Despite his successes, a question mark remains over what McSweeney will do in Number 10: he is not said to enjoy a close relationship with Starmer’s new chief of staff, Sue Gray. But his pool of allies is broad, and many of them are likely to make it into Labour’s post-election Cabinet. Some sources believe Starmer is not the only rising star for whom McSweeney will play kingmaker.
