Sir Keir Starmer has lost a key aide after just two weeks in his role in another blow to his reset. Tom Kibasi was seconded to Downing Street from the NHS as a strategist and was expected to be there for months.
However, the 43-year-old has returned to NHS England after only two weeks in No 10, Bloomberg reports. A Downing Street official said Mr Kibasi worked on a short-term project which has finished.
It is another blow to the Prime Minister’s latest reset of his premiership which was thrown into chaos by the resignation of Angela Rayner.
She quit as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader after an an ethics investigation which found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat earlier this year.
Sir Keir carried out a major Government reshuffle following Ms Rayner’s exit.
The reshuffle saw him sack two ministers, promote two and move 10 into different roles.
But he now faces the prospect of a party conference overshadowed by manoeuvring for the deputy leadership role vacated by the Ashton-under-Lyne MP, who was popular among the grassroots and seen as a bridge between No 10 and the wider party.
The reshuffle also comes just four days after Sir Keir carried out a smaller shake-up of his Downing Street team, announcing that his Government was now entering “phase two”.