Sir Keir Starmer’s fightback against an attempted Labour leadership coup has been overshadowed by yet another scandal involving one of his closest former aides.
The British Prime minister has been plunged into a fresh crisis as his former communications chief Mathew Doyle, has been suspended from Labour over his links to a convicted pedophile former councillor Sean Morton.
Sir Keir had elevated Doyle to the House of Lords in December.
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The Independent reports: The latest development will raise fresh questions over Sir Keir’s integrity and judgment, with echoes of the Peter Mandelson scandal, which has already cost him his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and brought his premiership to the brink of collapse.
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Lord Mandelson was made ambassador to the US – the UK’s most important diplomatic role – despite the prime minister knowing of his ongoing relationship with the convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
And now, Lord Doyle, who retains his peerage despite being stripped of the party whip, has revealed that he, too, had kept in contact with Morton, even after he was convicted.
In a statement, Lord Doyle said any contact “was extremely limited and I have not seen or spoken to him in years”.
He said: “I acted to try to ensure the welfare of a troubled individual whilst fully condemning the crimes for which he has been convicted, and being clear that my thoughts are with the victims of his crimes. I am sorry about the mistakes I have made. I will not be taking the Labour whip.”
“For the avoidance of any doubt, let me conclude where I started. Morton’s crimes were vile, and my only concerns are for his victims,” he added.
In a bid to limit the damage, sources in Downing Street last night briefed that No 10 was not aware that Lord Doyle had campaigned for Morton at the time of his appointment. Nevertheless, there were media reports on the issue before Lord Doyle was sworn in as a peer.
Lord Doyle, who worked for Sir Keir in opposition and entered Downing Street with him in 2024, campaigned for Morton when he ran as an independent in May 2017 – four months after Morton had appeared in court charged in connection with indecent child images.
His statement continued: “I want to apologise for my past association with Sean Morton. His offences were vile, and I completely condemn the actions for which he was rightly convicted. My thoughts are with the victims and all those impacted by these crimes.
“At the point of my campaigning support, Morton repeatedly asserted to all those who knew him his innocence, including initially in court. He later changed his plea in court to guilty.
“To have not ceased support ahead of a judicial conclusion was a clear error of judgment for which I apologise unreservedly.”
The news broke just hours after Sir Keir broke cover to launch his personal fightback with a speech focused on the cost of living at a community centre in Hertford.
Hitting back at Labour infighting that has split the party over whether he should continue as prime minister, Sir Keir insisted: “I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country. I will never walk away from the people that I’m charged with fighting for. And I will never walk away from the country that I love.”
