'It's night and day' - How the new broom in No 10 soured the mood and caused a rebellion

Clashes between powerful figures inside Downing Street and special advisers are not new. Dominic Cummings - Boris Johnson's right-hand man inside No 10 - had several high-profile bust-ups with spads, as they are known, which even led to the departure of a cabinet minister.

- Pippa Crerar Political editor

50 Number of advisers and officials who attended McSweeney's first 'pep talk' as chief of staff. 'It's night and day. We're much more optimistic,' one reported afterwards

Theresa May's pugilistic chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, became known for their confrontational style. Hill, in particular, made herself unpopular with her blunt text messages.

It is unprecedented for the entire spad cadre to feel so aggrieved over how they believe they are being treated that they come together to take a stand. Yet last month many of Labour's spads were revealed to have joined a union over concerns about their pay.

They used their contacts in the media to complain not just about their own situation - with many offered salaries lower than those of their Tory predecessors and temporary contracts - but also what they perceived to be a lack of understanding in No 10 of the political side of the operation.

Fairly or otherwise, the finger of blame was pointed at Sue Gray, Keir Starmer's former chief of staff, who had also become the target of criticism over blocking access to the prime minister and holding up decisions.

“We were really angry over the lack of transparency over pay. There was so much pettiness,” one spad said. “There was no reason for not telling us pay scales or what Tory advisers had got - we had to find out from officials. It put everybody's backs up from the get-go.”