VIDHYA ALAKESON has been a key confidant to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for the last three years, first as the Labour Party’s director of external affairs to now as deputy chief of staff.
The 48-year-old was trusted to support the new chief of staff Morgan McSweeney who replaced Sue Gray after she resigned last October.
Alakeson was among a number of new appointments to Starmer’s team that had become engulfed in controversy over Gray’s role in government – her salary was believed to be higher than the prime minister’s and she gave a Downing Street pass to Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli.
Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson - a Labour veteran, who worked for Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, were brought in as McSweeney’s deputies.
A new principal private secretary was appointed in Nin Pandit and James Lyons was hired as a strategic communications lead.
When Labour came into government last July, Alakeson had taken the key position of political director - running a team that was larger than in previous administrations, and whose task was to help shape messaging, conduct research and keep the government on the front foot.
“It will be highly targeted at those who need to hear our message the most,” one source said. That includes Labour’s own party membership, who have been pressurising the leadership over issues such as child poverty.”
Alakeson was previously director of external relations for the Labour Party. She was credited as playing a key role in wooing business leaders to give their support to the party ahead of the general elections.
In a letter published in The Times last May, 121 founders, chief executives, and former leaders at a range of financial services, retail and manufacturing firms said Labour had changed and “wants to work with business” on long term growth.
At the time, the external affairs director of one FTSE 100 company being courted by the party, told the Guardian that Alakeson was a driving forced behind attracting businesses to support the then opposition party.
“Vidhya is clearly working all hours of the day and night,” they said. “She is absolutely the person you want on your team.”
Prior to joining the Labour party, Alakeson was a champion for small and medium sized businesses and was instrumental in starting up Power to Change – an independent trust, established in 2015 to support and grow community-led businesses across England.
During her time, the organisation invested £100 million into the sector through targeted grants and support programmes.
Over two thirds of the funding consistently went to the most disadvantaged 30 per cent of the country.
“Community businesses deliver diverse and distinctive services that local people need,” she told the Local Government Chronicle.
“The failure of the modern high street is a national issue, but it can only be solved by taking a hyper local approach.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity here. Run by local people who understand their communities, community businesses deliver diverse and distinctive services that local people need. They exist to serve their community and help retain wealth in the local economy - this localism brings a much-needed resilience to the high street.
“The high street isn’t dead, it’s on the cusp of a revival to its original civic past. It just needs local authorities to put their faith in, and support behind, local communities to deliver what local places need.”
Alakeson has campaigned for equal opportunities everywhere she has worked.
During the Black Lives Matter movement, she commissioned a review into Power to Change’s performance in supporting equality, diversity and inclusion.
“(At the time) I didn’t feel that we had done enough yet as an organisation to address racial inequality, and indeed other forms of injustice. We had taken some steps but there was a great deal more to do,” she said.
“As a funder with charitable objectives working to support diverse communities, it’s often easy to assume our social purpose means we are automatically delivering in this area. It is easy, in our sector, to speak from a place of unexamined privilege which is exactly what Black Lives Matter has been so good at challenging.”
Alakeson was the heart and soul of Power to Change for seven years, steering the organisation from an initial idea, through start-up and on to making a real contribution the business sector.
“It has been a real privilege to lead Power to Change and to support the growth of the community business sector from 5,500 business to over 11,000 – all delivering vital services to local people,” she said.
“I am proud of everything we have achieved, and of the dedicated team I have worked with. There are still big challenges ahead, if we are to create more opportunities for people across the country, but I am confident Power to Change will continue to deliver remarkable things.
“This next chapter in my career is an exciting step to deliver social change from a new vantage point.”
Alakeson has a modern languages degree from the University of Oxford and a masters in European Studies from the London School of Economics.
She worked at a number of think-tanks, including the Resolution Foundation where, as the deputy chief executive, supported an organisation focused on improving the living standards for those on low to middle incomes.
Alakeson has worked in roles related to mental health, both in DC at the US Department of Health and in the NHS, and was a senior policy adviser at the Treasury in 2005.
She received an OBE for services to social equality in 2021.
