Starmer Defies Calls to Resign: Downing Street Insists PM is "Determined" Despite the Fall of His Strategic Architect, Morgan McSweeney

Downing Street issued a firm "no" to resignation rumors on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, stating that Prime Minister Keir Starmer remains focused and "confident" in his mission. This defiant stance follows the shock resignation of his Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, who stepped down after admitting to a "disastrous" recommendation to appoint Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the U.S. The scandal peaked with leaked "Epstein Files" alleging that Mandelson traded market secrets with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2009.

While Starmer praised McSweeney as the man who secured his "landslide victory," opposition leaders like Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage are smelling blood, arguing that the PM cannot hide behind his advisors' failures. With Mandelson resigning from the Labour Party and facing a criminal probe for "misconduct in public office," the political survival of the Starmer government is now under intense scrutiny. Critics suggest that without McSweeney's strategic genius, Starmer’s leadership is effectively "a ship without a rudder" in the midst of a perfect storm.