Ex-Starmer Aide Lays Into Government For Getting Distracted By 'Political Folderol'

Keir Starmer’s former adviser has laid into the government for getting distracted over trivial issues when it should be focusing on changing the country.

Paul Ovenden served as No.10′s director of strategy from July 2024 until he resigned in September.

He quit after it was revealed that he sent sexually explicit messages about Diane Abbott when he was a junior Labour press officer in 2017.

But almost four months later, Ovenden has returned to the scene to hit out at the government – particularly over its focus on Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s case.

Writing in The Times, Ovenden said the British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist was “a running joke” within Downing Street when he worked there, as a “totem of the ceaseless sapping of time and energy obsessed with fringe issues”.

Finally released from prison in Egypt, el-Fattah arrived in the UK on Boxing Day and was warmly welcomed by the prime minister on X.

However, it was soon revealed that the activist had written anti-Zionist tweets in the past – raising questions about the government’s due diligence, while the Tories and Reform call for his citizenship to be revoked.

Ovenden suggested the sudden dominance of el-Fattah’s case is symptomatic of the “sheer weirdness” which occupies Whitehall.

He referred to the famous “distracted boyfriend” meme, where a man checks out a woman walking past him as his partner looks at him with fury.

Ovenden said the government has repeatedly been distracted with “political folderol”, including arguments over colonial reparations or banning vaping in pub gardens.

The ex-adviser said this was a sign of a “Stakeholder State” where groups – outside of the civil service – with “time, money and institutional access” control the direction of travel.

He suggested this was everywhere, from the political podcasts where everyone agrees, to the activist lawyers and campaign groups.

He said: “A government with a stiffened spine and renewed purpose could dismantle much of the Stakeholder State quickly.”

Urging the government to “find its nerve again” and deliver on the change it has long promised.

His words come after a terrible year for Starmer, who has overseen his party nosedive in the polls and his own personal rating take a beating.

Labour are not expected to fare well in the May local elections, either, and questions about Starmer’s time in No.10 have become increasingly common.

But the prime minister himself has admitted he is “frustrated” at the pace of change in his New Year message – and that change will finally arrive in 2026.