A top aide to Sir Keir Starmer has resigned just months into her role as the exodus out of No10 continues.
The Prime Minister's director of communications Steph Driver quit from her post today, having only been promoted into the role in March earlier this year.
Ms Driver's departure is the latest in a growing list of top staff members abandoning the Prime Minister, with Downing Street quick to make clear Ms Driver left her role voluntarily.
The previous No10 communications chief was Labour veteran Matthew Doyle, who worked for Tony Blair, and was brought back in when the party was in opposition.
Steph Driver has stood down from her role
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Ms Driver succeeded Mr Doyle as Sir Keir's communications chief, having worked in the Prime Minister's inner circle during his stint as Leader of the Opposition.
She started working for the Labour Party in 2007, becoming a researcher for now-Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Ms Driver then worked in Labour's press team under both Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.
Responding to Ms Driver's resignation, the Prime Minister said: "Steph Driver has been a loyal and valued member of my team for almost five years. Steph played a leading role in transforming the Labour party and delivering our historic general election win.
"I will for ever be grateful for her calm, wise counsel, leadership and humour. I wish her all the best in her undoubted onward success.”
Ms Driver added: "It has been an honour to work with and advise Keir through opposition and into government. Being part of the team to rebuild and rebrand the Labour party before securing an historic general election victory is an achievement and experience like no other.
"I’m also proud of what this government has already delivered, and thank the sharp and talented No 10 press team for their hard work and support during my tenure. I’m grateful to the prime minister for his continued faith in me and my work, and for his offer of an open door in the future. His Labour government has my unwavering support."
LATEST FROM DOWNING STREET
It is the latest in a growing list of top staff members abandoning the Prime Minister | GETTYIt is the latest crisis to hit Downing Street staff as pressure mounts on the Prime Minister.
The first big hit for Keir Starmer occurred when top civil servant Sue Gray resigned from her position as Chief of Staff in October 2024.
Former Principal Private Secretary Nin Pandit, who ran the Prime Minister's team in Downing Street resigned in August.
Earlier this month, Paul Ovendon quit as the Prime Minister's director of political strategy. It followed the uncovering of sexually explicit messages about veteran MP and former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.
Before that, former Director of Communications for Strategy James Lyons left after only a year in the job.
Sue Gray resigned from her Downing Street role last October | PAMs Driver held conversations with Sir Keir and Morgan McSweeney, Downing Street's chief of staff about the new communications team structure, taking the decision to step down following a period of leave for a family bereavement, reports The Guardian.
It comes as senior Cabinet Ministers said Downing Street stands by Mr McSweeney amid questions about reports of how donations to Keir Starmer's leadership was handled.
The Conservatives released a leaked email from a lawyer to Mr McSweeney in response to the election watchdog investigating the failure to report donations to the Labour Together organisation he was previously in charge of.
The organisation was fined by the Electoral Commission over its handling of donations in 2021, but the Tories claimed the leaked email suggested Mr McSweeney had sought to mislead the watchdog.
Work and Pensions Secretary and key ally to Sir Keir Starmer, Pat McFadden, said he had full confidence in the Downing Street chief of staff, saying people were attacking him because "he’s a very talented man."
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said the legal advice to Mr McSweeney "shows how authorities may have been misled over hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations used to install Starmer as Labour leader."
He said: "We believe there is a strong public interest in revealing the full truth to the public about possible criminal wrongdoing.
"The Prime Minister was elected on a pledge to restore honesty and integrity in politics, but time and again he has deceived the public and put his party before our national interest."
He added: "'Nothing-to-see-here' Keir may be too weak to fire a chief of staff who tells him what to think, but Conservatives believe the public deserves the truth."
Mr McSweeney is facing growing pressure over his substantial donations to the Labour Together campaign group | PAA Labour Together spokesman said it "proactively raised concerns about its own reporting of donations to the Electoral Commission in 2020" and the outcome of the investigation was public knowledge.
The Electoral Commission said it had "thoroughly investigated the late reporting of donations by Labour Together" and concluded the failures occurred "without reasonable excuse."