'It’s over': Andrew Marr says Starmer could be gone within days after chief of staff resigns

The veteran political broadcaster is one of many who believe the PM is close to leaving Downing Street after his right-hand man left his team on Sunday due to his role in the Mandelson appointment.

Mr McSweeney stood down from his role at No.10 after he admitted to advising the premier to pick Mandelson as his US ambassador, despite knowing of his links to Jeffrey Epstein.

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Marr, who also works as an LBC presenter, believes Starmer's resignation could now come within less than a week.

Speaking to Henry Riley, Marr said: "I would not be surprised to see him resign quite quickly now. It very much depends on his own state of mind. I've not spoken to him, we have read that he is both very, very angry and depressed. You can never tell what someone in that type of mood is going to do.

"I think if he decides to dig in and carry on. It's going to be an utterly miserable experience for him and i'm sure he is thinking 'there must be a way out'".

Mr McSweeney's exit cranks up the pressure on Starmer, who has faced growing calls to resign after more details of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein emerged in US Government documents last week, including email exchanges about fiscal policy during the 2008 financial crash.

A Met Police investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office by Mandelson are currently underway, with officers searching two homes linked to him on Saturday.

A growing number of MPs, both from within Labour and the opposition, believe the scandal had made Starmer's position untenable.

If he were to resign, it would bring to an end a torrid 18-month Premiership for Starmer, which has seen Labour's polling fall to its lowest ever level, while Nigel Farage's Reform party has surged in popularity.

Marr praised the current PM for being a "decent man", but felt he was "never remotely a good enough politician to do the job he has been called upon to do".

"I think Starmer is a decent man, who came into politics very late in life for the right reasons," the presenter said.

"I don't think he is in it to enrich himself. I don't think he is corrupt. I don't think he is the sort of person in a million years that would be found around a swimming pool with the likes of Epstein.

"But politics is a very hard trade. It requires eloquence, it requires a wily understanding of other people and it requires a vision. I don't think he was never remotely a good enough politician to do the job he has been called upon to do."

Angela Rayner - the former deputy PM - is seen to be the favourite to replace Starmer, but Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Armed Forces minister Al Carns and Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell have also be mooted to take the top job.

Some Labour sources have suggested Starmer should leave after the May elections, where polling suggests the party will be trounced in local council votes and the Gorton and Denton by-election.

Leaving then would allow the new Labour leader a fresh start, but Marr believes Starmer won't be able to lead the country for another 3 months.

"People may be telling him 'for the sake of the country, staggering on a little bit longer and absorb all the grief and the grime and let someone take over in happier times'.

"But you never get to choose the moment these things happen. Where we are now it just seems very hard for Starmer to get up on Monday morning and go out and be in any sense a proper prime minister for the week ahead."