Baroness Harriet Harman has said the turmoil that culminated in the resignation of Sue Gray has been “uncomfortable” for Sir Keir Starmer, but missteps should be expected by a new government in its early weeks.
The prime minister was forced to accept the resignation of his chief of staff after weeks reported tensions in Number 10.
Since Labour won the election in July there have been a series of briefings against Ms Gray, including the leaking of information about her salary to the BBC last month.
The broadcaster reported that Ms Gray was being paid £3,000 more than Sir Keir, after a post-election pay rise.
Labour grandee Baroness Harman said “clunkiness” should be expected from a party that had been out of government for 14 years, but hoped Ms Gray’s resignation would mark a reset.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “This has been a squall. It has been uncomfortable.
“Nobody wants to see it on the front pages of the newspapers, nobody wants to see it leading the news especially with what else is going on in the world. Hopefully this will be the reset”.
She added: “It’s often the case if you have been out of power for a long time and you get in, there are missteps, there is clunkiness.”
She also praised Ms Gray for her “completely honest, hard working” character, adding: “I always found her excellent to work with”.
The party has spent weeks attempting to draw a line under a row over Sir Keir and members of his top team accepting freebies, gifts and hospitality.
Ms Gray will take up a new role in government after admitting she had become a “distraction”, not least over revelations of her £170,000 salary.
The move is part of a wider backroom reshuffle after some private criticism by ministers of the way the communications strategy was being run.
But Andrew Fisher, Jeremy Corbyn’s former director of policy, warned Ms Gray’s sacking “may reduce some of the internal rows but ultimately the problems the Labour government has faced in its early weeks have been due to the decisions of politicians.”
He said: “The decision to cut the winter fuel allowance has negatively impacted their polling. Also, the taking of freebies.
“It wasn’t Sue Gray holding a gun to Keir Starmer’s head saying, ‘take these free suits’ or to Bridget Phillipson ‘take these free Taylor Swift concert tickets’.”
Alastair Campbell, who was Tony Blair’s communications chief in No 10, denied that the current situation is a “complete irrecoverable shambles”, but warned: “You cannot make too many missteps in government.”
He said: “Government is harder than opposition. Labour governments are held to a much higher standard than Tory governments. I hope this is the reset that is needed”.
Mr Campbell said the “winter fuel announcement dropping out of the sky” is an example of Labour not talking to the country.
“You add that to the freebies stuff it again spoke against the narrative with which they won the election which was all very high standards in public life”, he added.
John McTernan, who was Sir Tony’s political secretary, also piled in on Sir Keir’s administration, saying the government has “completely lost grip”, warning it is “delivering drift” rather than change.
He told Times Radio the government has “lacked a political narrative and the political drive and the momentum that drove them through the election to a great victory”.
But defence secretary John Healey said that “sadly it’s nothing new” to see a senior staffer in No 10 become “a lightning rod for criticism”.
He said Sir Keir’s administration owes Ms Gray for her “massive role” in helping it prepare for office but added: “I really respect her decision to step aside”.
Asked whether he would have accused the Tories of being a “total shambles” if their chief of staff had stood down within three months in office, Mr Healey said: “In the end what counts for people is what government does. We’re getting on with the job people elected us (to do).”
Downing Street has been contacted for comment.