Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson: Who are Starmer’s new joint chiefs of workers? | EUROtoday

Morgan McSweeney has been compelled to give up as Downing Street chief of workers because the scandal over Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US regardless of his hyperlinks to the convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein escalated.

Sir Keir Starmer, who’s preventing to avoid wasting his premiership, has vowed that the agenda he and Mr McSweeney had been engaged on is not going to change, with a “relentless” deal with the price of dwelling.

In mild of this, Sir Keir has seemed internally for a substitute as an alternative of bringing in contemporary considering from exterior.

Shortly after the resignation was introduced, workers had been knowledgeable he had turned to Mr McSweeney’s two deputies, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson, to exchange him as the brand new joint chiefs of workers for the struggling Downing Street operation.

Who are the 2 girls tasked with righting the course of Sir Keir’s administration?

Vidhya Alakeson

Vidhya Alakeson, 49, was political director for Keir Starmer when he was chief of the opposition and has lengthy been one in every of his most trusted deputies.

She beforehand labored for the influential Resolution Foundation thinktank, which has been vital in shaping Labour’s at occasions faltering financial coverage.

She additionally frolicked operating Power of Change as chief govt. The organisation was a National Lottery Community Fund backed belief with the objective to “strengthen communities through community business”, which it believes has the ability to “tackle some of society’s biggest challenges at a local level” together with local weather change, digital transformation and social inequalities.

She holds levels from Oxford University and LSE, and was awarded an OBE in 2021.

Ms Alakeson was additionally privately educated at Wimbledon High School for women.

Jill Cuthbertson

Jill Cuthbertson performed a major function within the failed referendum marketing campaign to maintain the UK within the EU in 2016 as occasions supervisor for Britain Stronger in Europe.

She is a very long time aide of Sir Keir’s, having beforehand been the director of his non-public workplace till the election 2024, when she was handed the job as director of presidency relations.

She held this submit for a brief interval earlier than being promoted to joint deputy chief of workers after Sue Gray was compelled out as chief of workers and changed by Mr McSweeney.

Previously, Ms Cuthbertson labored as a personal secretary to Ed Miliband and Gordon Brown and earlier than that Cherie Blair.

An skilled Labour Party authorities insider, she was Mr Brown’s political workplace supervisor when he was prime minister.

Ms Cuthbertson married to Mo Hussein, a former particular adviser to Tory residence secretary Amber Rudd in 2019. They met whereas engaged on the Remain marketing campaign in the course of the referendum.