Angela Rayner aide Jack McKenna cleared of wrongdoing by Labour

A senior aide to Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has been cleared of any wrongdoing following an internal investigation.

Ms Rayner's communications chief Jack McKenna was suspended by the party almost a year ago.

This was seen at the time as a sign of rising tensions between Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy.

Sir Keir had earlier tried but did not succeed in moving Ms Rayner to another role in a reshuffle.

Mr McKenna - who had also been a party official under Jeremy Corbyn - was accused of a data breach.

But he, in turn, complained that news of his suspension had been leaked before he had been told of it - in other words, that his own data had been breached.

Labour officials described the period of his suspension as "leave".

Privately, some officials close to the Labour leader were keen for him to go.

While still being paid by the party, he was unable to carry out his duties on behalf of Angela Rayner.

In a statement, the Labour Party acknowledged that information about his employment status had wrongly been made public last year.

A spokesman said: 'We unreservedly condemn misleading and unauthorised leaks about Jack to the media.

"In that context, we wish to make clear that Jack leaves the Labour Party with a clean record and without any disciplinary action against him.'

His work was praised both by Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Rayner, who called him a "consummate professional".

It is rare for such statements to be made by the Labour Party following internal investigations or disciplinary processes.

The fact that it has done so in this case would suggest the party had been facing the prospect of legal action, and that a settlement - perhaps a substantial settlement - had been reached out of court.

Neither Labour nor Mr McKenna would comment on the legal situation.