Paul Ovenden, director of strategy at 10 Downing Street, has resigned after sexually explicit messages about former Labour MP Diane Abbott surfaced in emails from 2017, the Daily Mail reported on 15 September 2025.
The newspaper said the emails, exchanged with a former colleague, retold a conversation in which a game of "shag, marry, kill" involving Ms Abbott was described and then graphically recounted. Ovenden, a former newspaper journalist who joined Labour in 2014, is reported to be a close ally of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and of Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney. The Mail said Ovenden resigned to avoid becoming "a distraction."
The resignation follows a string of recent controversies affecting the government. The Daily Mail report noted that the development comes days after the sacking of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the United States over extraordinary emails sent to Jeffrey Epstein, and shortly after the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who left after admitting she had underpaid taxes. Diane Abbott is currently suspended by the Labour Party, and has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Starmer.
Downing Street did not immediately publish a detailed account of the exchanges or of any internal inquiry into the matter. The timing of the report coincides with a period in which MPs from across the political spectrum have warned that Mr. Starmer’s leadership faces tests in the months ahead. Some MPs quoted by the Mail said the May local elections will be a critical assessment of the government's standing.
Mr. Starmer was scheduled to face parliamentary questions and later to set out details of a proposed nuclear power agreement with the United States, according to a Downing Street programme cited in coverage of the story. The government is also preparing for a state visit from former U.S. president Donald Trump, events that commentators and politicians say add to the heightened scrutiny of ministerial appointments and advisers.
The Daily Mail's account is the principal source reporting the content of the 2017 emails and the circumstances of Ovenden's resignation. Labour Party officials have previously suspended Ms. Abbott and said they would investigate complaints made against her; the party did not immediately release a new statement about the latest reported messages involving an adviser.
Ovenden’s departure marks another change in Downing Street personnel amid continuing media attention on private communications linked to senior figures. There was no immediate public comment from Ovenden at the time of the reports, and Downing Street did not provide further detail about any internal procedures that might follow.
Parliamentary questions on who knew what and when about related matters, notably the circumstances surrounding Lord Mandelson’s correspondence, have continued to be raised by MPs. Government officials said the prime minister would address parliamentary business and forthcoming policy announcements as scheduled.
The Daily Mail article provided the first published account of the emails and the resignation on 15 September 2025. Further developments, including any formal statements from Downing Street, the Labour Party or Mr. Ovenden, are expected to clarify the precise sequence of events and any internal action taken.