Paul Ovenden, a senior aide to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, has resigned after offensive and sexual text messages came to light in which he recounted a conversation about veteran MP Diane Abbott.
The messages were reported in the Daily Mail, and are understood to have been made eight years ago, as part of an online private conversation.
In a statement to ITV News, Mr Ovenden said he was “truly, deeply sorry for it and the hurt it will cause”.
A spokesperson for the prime minister called the messages “appalling and unacceptable”, saying: “As the first black woman to be elected to Parliament, Diane Abbott is a trailblazer who has faced horrendous abuse throughout her political career.”
They added: “These kinds of comments have no place in our politics.”
Mr Ovenden was Sir Keir’s director of political strategy and the messages are understood to have been made when he was a press officer for the Labour party.
They relay a story from a party in which colleagues were making explicit remarks about Abbott.
Abbott is the longest-serving female MP in Parliament, having represented the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency since 1987.
For much of her parliamentary career she has been a Labour MP, but earlier this year was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party for comments she made about racism.
Mr Ovenden in his statement: “I am accused of eight years ago as a junior press officer sharing with a female colleague the details of a silly conversation that I was party to with other female staff members.
“Before summer, I had announced to some of my colleagues my intention to leave government.
“Though the messages long pre-date my current employment and relationship with the prime minister, I’ve brought forward my resignation to avoid distracting from the vital work this government is doing to positively change people’s lives.
“As an advisor, my duty is to protect the reputation of the prime minister and his government.
“While it is chilling that a private conversation from nearly a decade ago can do this sort of damage, I am also truly, deeply sorry for it and the hurt it will cause.”
