Based on Labour Party files, including some never publicly seen before, this explosive investigation lays bare the intrigues, stratagems, and deceits that helped deliver Sir Keir Starmer to Downing Street.Paul Holden shows how Starmer has been the frontman for a ruthless, right-wing political project headed by Morgan McSweeney, now chief of staff in Number 10 and arguably the most powerful man in Britain.McSweeneys clique often employed dirty tricks to undermine the left-wing Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, fuelling a moral panic over antisemitism and establishing front groups that hobbled prominent independent media outlets in the name of fighting misinformation.McSweeney then guided Starmer to the Labour leadership on a platform that Starmer, once in office, almost instantly betrayed. Having conquered the party on false pretences, McSweeney and his allies set about purging opponents, marginalising the membership, and dragging party policy to the right.These machinations were made possible by financial donations that McSweeney did not disclosea violation of the law that arguably subverted Britains democratic system. But was McSweeneys unlawful failure to report donations a mistakeor was it deliberate?This is a sordid tale that includes hacked emails, anonymous smears, dodgy dossiers, cynical stitch-ups, and staggering hypocrisy. It traces the Labour Partys transformation into a censorial, authoritarian machine, and sounds the alarm about the possible corruption of British politics by dark money. Paul Holden has over a decade of experience in investigating cases of grand corruption and corporate malfeasance, including as the senior researcher on the book and feature documentary Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade. He has published six books, three of them bestsellers in his native South Africa, and has written for publications including the Guardian and the Independent. He is a Network Fellow at the Safra Centre for Ethics at Harvard University.