Welsh Labour deputy Carolyn Harris quits as Starmer aide

Carolyn Harris has been Sir Keir's parliamentary private secretary for the past year

Welsh Labour deputy leader Carolyn Harris has quit as Sir Keir Starmer's parliamentary aide, after newspaper reports she was briefing against UK party deputy leader Angela Rayner.

It follows a row on Saturday after Sir Keir sacked Ms Rayner as party chair and campaign coordinator.

He has since given Ms Rayner the job of shadowing Michael Gove at the Cabinet Office.

BBC Wales has attempted to contact Swansea East MP Ms Harris for comment.

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The Welsh MP is standing down as the Labour leader's Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) - effectively his eyes and ears in the Commons.

Ms Rayner's removal from her roles came in the Labour frontbench shake-up in the wake of disappointing election results in England.

Sir Keir has since given her the job of shadowing Michael Gove at the Cabinet Office.

A row broke out on Saturday after Angela Rayner was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer from two roles in the party

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Harris said: "It has been the proudest moment of my career to co-chair the campaign that saw Keir Starmer elected as Labour leader, and to serve as his PPS for the past year.

"Stepping back from this role is the right thing at this moment, coming as it does after some trying personal times and an ever-increasing workload as deputy leader of Welsh Labour.

"I have enjoyed every minute, and look forward to supporting Keir the best way I can in the months ahead."

In March, Ms Harris said she had received "horrendous abuse" after a screenshot was shared on social media wrongly claiming to show her asleep in the House of Commons.