Keir Starmer Dealt Fresh Hammer Blow After Top Aide Quits Over Diane Abbott Messages

Keir Starmer has been dealt a fresh blow after one of his top aides quit over sexually explicit messages he sent about Diane Abbott.

Paul Ovenden resigned as the No.10 director of strategy after the remarks were unearthed by ITV.

It is understood they relate to a conversation he had with colleagues while working for Labour as a junior press officer in 2017.

Ovenden is a close ally of Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s under-fire chief of staff, and was a key figure inside Downing Street.

It is understood that he was playing a major role in preparations for the Labour Party conference later this month, including helping to write Keir Starmer’s keynote speech.

His departure comes hard on the heels of Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister and Peter Mandelson’s sacking as the UK’s ambassador to Washington and adds to the sense of crisis engulfing No.10.

In the messages, Ovenden tells a female colleague about a game of “shoot, shag kill” he had played with two other female Labour staffers the previous night.

He recalled how one of the colleagues discussed with the other “who would use the strap on out of her and Diane Abbott”.

In another message, he says: “We spent a lot of time discussing *name redacted* going down on Diane. Honestly it was outrageous.”

In a statement, Ovenden said: “I am accused of eight years ago as a junior press officer sharing with a female colleague the details of a silly conversation that I was party to with other female staff members.

“Before summer, I had announced to some of my colleagues my intention to leave government. Though the messages long pre-date my current employment and relationship with the prime minister, I’ve brought forward my resignation to avoid distracting from the vital work this government is doing to positively change people’s lives.

“As an advisor, my duty is to protect the reputation of the prime minister and his government.

“While it is chilling that a private conversation from nearly a decade ago can do this sort of damage, I am also truly, deeply sorry for it and the hurt it will cause.”