Why did Keir Starmer's communications director Tim Allan resign?

Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, resigned after just five months in the role.

His resignation comes after Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff and a prominent name in Labour’s, made a comeback.

In a brief official statement, he said he had “decided to stand down to allow a new No 10 team to be built.”

Adding to it, he gave his best wishes to prime minister and his staff.

Experts note that the resignation is linked with the controversy surrounding Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States, despite Mandelson’s long-standing links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mandelson has been probed since his name cropped up in the US Justice Department files, which were released as part of the Epstein inquiry.

He was sacked by Starmer in September and later resigned from both Labour Party and House of Lords.

Now, he is part of an ongoing review into an exit payment he was given post-sacking.

Allan’s resignation marks the second senior resignation in less than 24 hours. This raises concerns among Labour MPs that Starmer’s operation is losing control amid a damaging political row.