Morgan McSweeney: brains behind Labour's comeback undone by poor judgment | The Guardian |

He earned his political stripes fighting extremism across London, wresting control of Labour from its Trotskyite faction in Lambeth and seeing off challenges from the far-right BNP in Dagenham. He won a reputation as a first-rate organiser but, in 2015, his campaign to install the Blairite MP Liz Kendall as the Labour party leader ended in crushing defeat: she got just 4.5% of the vote, losing to Corbyn.

McSweeney spent most of the Corbyn years strategising on how to drag Labour back to the centre, spending several years at the helm of the moderate thinktank Labour Together. He alighted on Starmer, a former human rights lawyer and director of public prosecutions, as the candidate who could command the support of party members and the electorate. When Corbyn resigned after the 2019 defeat, McSweeney oversaw Starmer's leadership campaign - and his election to the role with 56% of the vote.

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McSweeney proved to be a far less efficient government official than campaign mastermind. He was accused of presiding over a toxic culture in Downing Street, initiating vicious briefing wars against anyone who looked like a leadership challenge - including the health secretary, Wes Streeting, a former ally.