Downing Street To Host Regular Government Briefings For MP Staff
Larry the cat was seen outside Number 10 Downing Street this week (Alamy)
2 min read
No10 has started hosting regular briefings for MPs' staff members in order to directly communicate the work being carried out by the Government.
The briefings will be hosted on Zoom by No10's Director of External Relations Vidhya Alakeson, with one member of staff member per MP office invited to the meetings every few weeks. The first such meeting will take place tomorrow, on Friday, PoliticsHome understands.
This is the first time staffers have been provided with direct briefings by Downing Street.
"This will form part of a rolling series of meetings for MPs' staff every 2-3 weeks and details of future meetings will be shared in due course," a No10 message shared with staffers said.
MPs and their offices already get briefings from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) every day to communicate government business, and No10 Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney has been hosting regional groups of MPs in No10 over the last few weeks.
MPs' staff used to attend PLP meetings in Parliament when Labour was in opposition, so the new briefings have been seen by some staffers as a "rekindling" of those meetings – but now with Labour in power.
One staffer said it was "very welcome", while another said it was "fantastic".
"I've been saying to anyone who will listen people need to start telling staff as well as MPs, seeing as we can then actually do our jobs for our MPs," the second staffer said.
No10 has been overshadowed by reports of disunity in recent weeks, with former chief of staff Sue Gray resigning following negative briefings from Whitehall figures about her to the media and controversy over her being paid more than Prime Minister Keir Starmer. She was replaced by former head of political strategy McSweeney, with Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson appointed as deputy chiefs of staff, and James Lyons hired to head up a new strategic communications team.
A few weeks ago, a Downing Street spokesperson told PoliticsHome that it had been "right to reflect" on whether the previous structures at the head of government were operating effectively, following Gray's departure.
"As the Prime Minister said, the appointments he's made will strengthen the Downing Street operation and demonstrate his determination to deliver the change that the country voted for," he said.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
