Inside No 10 Senior MPs frustrated at lack of black officials

Senior Labour MPs have expressed their frustration at the lack of black representation in No 10 as the Conservatives elected Kemi Badenoch as their new leader.

- Rowena Mason

Labour sources said the WhatsApp group for Labour MPs of colour contained some furious messages from those who believe the party is not doing enough to represent black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups at the top of government.

One senior Labour frontbencher said it was a "serious embarrassment and a blind spot in No 10" that there were no senior black staff members at the very centre of a Labour government, when the Conservatives have elected a black woman as their leader.

They said there were a few people of colour among senior Downing Street staffers, including the deputy chief of staff Vidhya Alakeson and the policy adviser Rav Athwal, but they were struggling to think of any senior black advisers in Starmer's team.

They said Labour was "nowhere near electing a woman leader or a black leader but both is totally unthinkable at the moment".

There is also frustration that there is no race relations adviser in No 10 - in contrast to under some Conservative administrations.