Sir Keir Starmer has sacked his chief of staff as part of a major restructuring of the Labour leader’s office as he moves the party to an “election footing”.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the party said the Labour leader held a call with staff this morning alongside the general secretary and announced plans to capitalise on promising leads over the Conservatives in recent polls.

Sir Keir is said to have told party employees that “this is not time for complacency or caution” and that long-planned changes to structures must be brought forward in light of the Conservative Party’s “implosion”.

“The government’s collapse has given us a huge chance. The instability means they could fall at any time. Because of that we need to get on an election footing straight away,” staff are said to have been told by the Labour leader.

It is believed he urged the party to “seize the opportunity we have and show the British people we are the party that can lead our country forward”.

As part of the changes, Sam White, who was appointed as chief of staff last summer, will leave his position.

The new structure mean policy and communications will move into Party HQ, reporting to the general secretary, the statement added.

Labour’s general secretary David Evans made clear that no jobs are at risk as a result of the restructure.