Labour has commenced access talks with the civil service in preparation for a potential change of government after the general election.
Sir Keir Starmer wrote to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to request to start the preparations last month after Rishi Sunak authorised that the talks could begin.
The meetings are an opportunity for Labour to discuss its agenda for government and establish relationships with potential future colleagues in Whitehall.
A Labour spokesperson on Friday said: “Access talks have commenced. Shadow cabinet teams will begin to meet with departments.”
The Leader of the Opposition must write to the Prime Minister requesting the meetings in order to initiate the process.
By convention, the Prime Minister is expected to respond by authorising the talks ahead of an election.
Mr Sunak has said it is his “working assumption” that he will send the nation to the polls to elect a new Westminster government in the second half of 2024, with October or November thought to be most likely.
The Tories have been consistently behind Sir Keir’s Labour in opinion polls for more than a year, trailing by as much as 20 points in some surveys.
