From Sandwell to Downing Street: The Imogen Walker Appointment, Morgan McSweeney’s Shadow, and Why Keir Starmer Has Lost All Credibility

UPDATE 

Since this article was first drafted, Morgan McSweeney has **resigned as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Keir Starmer following a series of national scandals involving undeclared political donations, the targeting of journalists, catastrophic judgement over senior appointments, and growing pressure from MPs, journalists, and the public.

This development fundamentally changes the context in which Imogen Walker’s appointment at Sandwell Council must now be viewed.

What was previously dismissed as “local noise” now sits within a clear national pattern of behaviour involving McSweeney’s influence, opaque decision-making, and a disregard for transparency.

The questions raised below are therefore more urgent, not less.

From Sandwell to Downing Street: The Imogen Walker Appointment, Morgan McSweeney’s Shadow, and Why Keir Starmer Has Lost All Credibility

For years, anyone raising concerns about the appointment of Imogen Walker at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council was told to calm down, stop speculating, and accept that everything was perfectly normal.

A routine interim role.
A routine restructure.
Nothing to see here.

Fast-forward to today, and the man at the centre of that story — Morgan McSweeney — has resigned as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister amid a rolling national scandal involving undeclared donations, intimidation of journalists, catastrophic judgement, and a pattern of behaviour that now looks anything but incidental.

Sandwell wasn’t an anomaly.
It was an early warning.

The Sandwell appointment that never added up

Walker’s appointment as Interim Head of the Leader’s Office came during one of the most chaotic periods in Sandwell Council’s recent history. Governance failures, external intervention, commissioners circling — the sort of environment where every senior appointment should have been watertight.

Instead, what we got was:

• no publicly available job advert,
• no visible recruitment process,
• no interview records,
• no clear decision notice,
• no minutes explaining how or why the role was created,
• and FOI responses indicating key records were “not held or could not be located.”

This wasn’t a junior admin post. It was a politically sensitive advisory role sitting directly alongside the council leader, dealing with communications, risk, and reputation.

And yet the paperwork appears to have evaporated.

The McSweeney connection that Sandwell never addressed

At the time of Walker’s appointment, her husband Morgan McSweeney was not some peripheral activist. He was already one of the most powerful organisational figures in Labour, running Labour Together and shaping the party’s internal direction.

No one is claiming that marriage alone proves wrongdoing. But responsible governance would demand heightened transparency, explicit conflict-of-interest consideration, and a clear documentary trail.

Sandwell provided none of that publicly.

Which raises an unavoidable question:
What enquiries did Sandwell Labour leadership make about McSweeney’s role, influence, or proximity to this appointment — if any?

And if none were made, why not?

Patterns that no longer look coincidental

Since the Sandwell appointment, the national picture has deteriorated rapidly:

• Labour Together fined for serious political finance transparency breaches involving hundreds of thousands of pounds.
• A PR firm paid to “investigate” journalists asking legitimate questions.
• Senior MPs demanding inquiries.
• The National Union of Journalists condemning Labour’s actions.
• McSweeney at the centre of the disastrous Mandelson appointment — despite clear reputational red flags.
• Epstein-related revelations detonating at the heart of government decision-making.
• And finally, McSweeney’s resignation as Downing Street Chief of Staff.

Seen in isolation, each scandal might be waved away. Seen together, they form a pattern: control, opacity, factional loyalty, and contempt for scrutiny.

That pattern looks uncomfortably familiar to anyone who watched what happened in Sandwell.

Questions Sandwell Labour must now answer

Given what is now known, it is no longer acceptable for Sandwell’s Labour leadership to hide behind vague reassurances.

The current Labour leader of Sandwell Council should be asked, plainly and publicly:

• What discussions took place about Imogen Walker’s appointment?
• What role, if any, did Morgan McSweeney have in recommending, facilitating, or influencing that appointment?
• What steps were taken to manage conflicts of interest?
• Why do minutes and decision records appear to be missing?
• And in light of McSweeney’s resignation, does the council still stand by its handling of the appointment?

Silence is no longer neutral. It is political.

Why this leads directly to Starmer

Which brings us to Keir Starmer.

Starmer has built his leadership on the claim that he is the grown-up, the lawyer, the man of due diligence and forensic standards. And yet again and again, he has relied on the judgement of people who have demonstrably failed those tests.

He trusted McSweeney.
He trusted Mandelson.
He ignored warnings.
He downplayed concerns.
He reassured the public — until the facts collapsed underneath him.

At this point, incompetence is no longer a defence.

As a former Director of Public Prosecutions, Starmer knows exactly what due diligence looks like. He also knows what happens when you don’t do it. That makes repeated failures of judgement not accidental, but negligent.

A Prime Minister who cannot tell the truth clearly, cannot vet his closest advisers, and cannot explain how decisions were made has forfeited the moral authority to govern.

Conclusion: Sandwell was the canary

Sandwell Council didn’t just have a “local issue.” It exposed a culture — one that has now reached the heart of government.

Jobs appearing without records.
Power operating without accountability.
Questions treated as disloyalty.
And trust demanded instead of earned.

Morgan McSweeney’s resignation closes one chapter. But it opens a far bigger one.

And until Sandwell Labour, and Keir Starmer himself, answer the questions they’ve spent years avoiding — none of this is finished.

Sandwell Council, Labour Party, Governance Failure, Political Appointments, Transparency, Cronyism, Accountability, UK Politics

#Sandwell #ImogenWalker #MorganMcSweeney #LabourTogether #GovernanceFailure #Transparency #Cronyism #Accountability #Starmer #PoliticsUK