Tim Allan, Keir Starmer’s director of communications, has stepped down after just five months in the job, his resignation coming a day after the prime minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, also resigned.

Allan said in a brief statement: “I have decided to stand down to allow a new No10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success.”

The departure is another blow to Starmer’s position amid a furious row about the decision to make Peter Mandelson ambassador to Washington despite his close links to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

More details soon …