Hollie Ridley, the Labour general secretary credited with orchestrating the party’s landslide 2024 election victory, has announced she will step down this autumn — making way for a successor to work alongside the party’s incoming new leader.
In an email to party staff on Friday, Ridley said she would resign after Labour’s annual conference in September. She cited personal reasons and stressed that it was right for Labour’s ruling national executive committee to appoint a new general secretary “to work alongside a new leader once they are elected”.
“Hollie Ridley, Labour's general secretary who drove the 2024 election landslide, resigns after September conference.”
Ridley’s departure comes as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to stand down as prime minister — he announced his resignation in June — with Andy Burnham, the newly elected MP for Makerfield and former mayor of Greater Manchester, the only candidate so far to declare he is running. Burnham will have significant influence over who fills the role, as the NEC picks Ridley’s replacement.
Starmer paid tribute to Ridley, describing her as “one of the most formidable campaigners the Labour Party has ever produced”. He added: “She built and led the ground campaign that delivered our general election victory and allowed us to start changing Britain.”
Ridley began working for Labour in 2011, aged 22, after becoming involved to fight the rise of the British National Party in Dagenham, east London, where she grew up. She went on to hold a series of party roles, becoming the third female general secretary in Labour’s history in October 2024. She is also credited with orchestrating Labour’s against-the-odds win in the 2019 Peterborough by-election.
Jessica Morden, chair of Labour’s parliamentary party, told MPs that Ridley had been an “extraordinary servant” who “delivered the first two Jo Cox women in leadership programmes” and “won countless elections against the odds”.
In her email to colleagues, Ridley said the next leader “will have my full support, as we continue to drive forward the vital work of change and deliver that crucial second term in government”. She has already contacted Burnham’s team and other senior figures, emphasising she will continue to support a new prime minister.
The general secretary is responsible for Labour’s operational management, including running election campaigns and paid staff — a role that will now be filled as the party navigates a leadership contest and the early months of a new government.