If Sir Keir Starmer enters Downing Street in a month’s time, he will be indebted to a man whom most outside of Westminster have never heard of. For much of the past decade, that is exactly how Morgan McSweeney wanted it.
Born and raised in Macroom, a small town in Co Cork, he has subterfuge in his blood: his grandfather volunteered for the IRA during the war of independence, couriering messages from Dublin. McSweeney spent the Corbyn years under the radar, contemplating how to reclaim Labour from the left and return the party to power.
As Starmer’s chief aide, he is on the cusp of fulfilling his mission. His success has been borne of a stark analysis of Labour’s greatest weakness: itself. McSweeney is haunted