You might not know who the people are, or what they do behind the big black door of Number 10, but what just happened in the bowels of Downing Street is a big moment.
After getting off to a pretty dreadful start in government, Sir Keir Starmer has moved to get a grip of his operation on the eve of his first 100 days.
Amid the rows over freebie-gate, the endless briefings against the prime minister’s chief of staff Sue Gray – which spoke to wider dysfunction in Number 10 – Sir Keir has not got off to the start he would have wanted after a slick and effective election campaign.
“Keir Starmer is quite patient,” explains one insider on the changes announced on Sunday. “He expected teething difficulties, but wants to make sure Number 10 is completely refocused ahead of the first 100 days.”
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A leader who can at times seem ponderous, on Sunday his ruthless streak was on display once more, as he eased out Ms Gray and replaced her with his former chief of staff and head of political strategy Morgan McSweeney.
“What you have seen here is a PM that wants to get a grip of things and that is what this change is about.”
The move was part of a bigger effort to beef up Number 10 operations, amid horror that the effectiveness of the election campaign – run by Mr McSweeney – had given way to a rather floundering Downing Street operation.
“Sue realised she had to move, it’s been a mess,” said another staffer who told me the conversations began last week and that Ms Gray and the prime minister decided that she should step down from the role by “mutual consent”.
She will take on the role as the prime minister’s envoy for the nations and regions.
There had been two power bases in Number 10: Ms Gray had been brought in by Sir Keir to deal with the transition to power, while Mr McSweeney had helped Sir Keir win the leadership and plotted his path…
