Munira Mirza: Who is Boris Johnson’s policy chief and why did she quit?

She was once hailed by the PM as one of the five women who most inspired him, as Ashley Cowburn explains

Boris Johnson pictured in December 2020 with Munira Mirza, director of the No 10 Policy Unit, who resigned on Thursday (PA)

Boris Johnson has suffered a major blow as his policy chief and long-standing adviser, Munira Mirza, quit No 10 in protest at the prime minister’s “scurrilous” Jimmy Savile smear against Sir Keir Starmer.

The backroom operator and key member of Mr Johnson’s inner circle first joined No 10 in July 2019 and was pictured among staff who flanked the prime minister as he gave his first speech to the nation from Downing Street.

The former adviser was once hailed by the prime minister as one of the five women who most inspired him – alongside Boudicca and his grandmother – and helped author the Conservatives’ 2019 election-winning manifesto.