Journalist Patrick Maguire on the Irishman's key role in UK politics

Listen | 36:39
Morgan McSweeney, campaign director for Keir Starmer.
Morgan McSweeney, campaign director for Keir Starmer.

As the head of an organisation called Labour Together, which despite its name “was all about dividing the Labour Party and defeating the left”, Irishman Morgan McSweeney handpicked Keir Starmer as the leadership candidate to take on Jeremy Corbyn and the party’s left wing in 2020.

That is according to Patrick Maguire, co-author of Get In, an entertaining book about Starmer’s road to Number 10 and McSweeney’s accumulation of power behind the scenes.

Patrick talks to Hugh Linehan about McSweeney’s talent, Starmer’s leadership and why the Labour government is struggling to get its message across.

Get In by Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund is available now.