Vidhya Alakeson

Vidhya Alakeson OBE is a British political aide. She has served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Starmer ministry since 2024.

Biography

Vidhya Alakeson is of British Indian background. She holds a degree in modern languages from the University of Oxford and an MSc from the London School of Economics. Alakeson joined the Resolution Foundation in January 2011 and left in January 2014 to become Chief Executive of Power to Change. When Keir Starmer was Leader of the Opposition, she was political director. In this role she worked as a special adviser.
In the 2021 Birthday Honours, was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to social equality. Until the 2024 United Kingdom general election, she was director of external relations for the Labour Party. In October 2024, with the resignation of Sue Gray, she was promoted to deputy chief of staff by Morgan McSweeney. She serves alongside Jill Cuthbertson.