In 1985, he began as the party’s communications director, pairing a smooth-talking style with ruthless behind-the-scenes maneuvering to assist then-leader Neil Kinnock in shifting the party away from the left. By 1992, he was an MP for Hartlepool, playing a crucial role in Blair’s 1994 election as party leader and Labour’s 1997 general election victory.
Though often embroiled in scandal, he resigned from the Cabinet in 1998 over a colleague’s loan and again in 2001 due to a controversy involving a passport application for an Indian billionaire.
His return to power seemed inevitable due to his strategic skills. In 2008, already serving as Britain’s EU trade commissioner, he mended relations with Brown, then the prime minister, during a private meeting in Brussels, before reentering the government. In 2009, when Cabinet minister James Purnell resigned and urged Brown to step aside, he reportedly persuaded the rebels at No. 10 to relent.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, stated on Tuesday: “He’s very articulate, highly intelligent, and possibly the best networker in Westminster over the past 30 years.” Farage also remarked, “[On] the actual subject, the brief … I’d never heard anybody as impressive in all my 20 years in the European Parliament. The guy is very, very bright, but clearly has a taste for money, and has a taste for bad company.”
Labour lost the 2010 election, albeit by a narrower margin than anticipated, and he co-founded Global Counsel, a lobbying firm, which began distancing itself from him last year. However, by the late 2010s, he made his way back into politics, forming a close professional bond with Morgan McSweeney, now Starmer’s chief of staff. Together with other Labour aides, they gathered at the south London home of Labour peer Roger Liddle to strategize over regaining control of the party from the left once more.
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