Labour’s general secretary has announced she will resign this autumn after almost two years in the role.

Hollie Ridley, a close ally of Sir Keir Starmer and his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, told party staff on Friday it was right for Labour’s ruling national executive (NEC) to appoint a new general secretary “to work alongside our new leader”.

She said she would step aside after the party’s annual conference in September.

Sir Keir, who announced he was standing down as prime minister in June, described Ridley as “one of the most formidable campaigners the Labour Party has ever produced”.

He also credited her with leading the ground campaign which contributed to Labour’s landslide general election victory in 2024.

Should Andy Burnham replace Sir Keir as prime minister, he will have the opportunity to influence the NEC as to who leads the party operation.

Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and newly elected MP for Makerfield, is so far the only candidate to announce he is standing.

In her email to colleagues, Ridley said the next leader “will have my full support, as we continue to drive forward the vital work of change and deliver that crucial second term in government”.

Ridley began working with Labour in 2011 and said she first became involved with the party to fight the rise of the British National Party in Dagenham, east London, where she grew up.

She has held a series of party roles in the party, becoming the third female general secretary in Labour’s history in October 2024.

Jessica Morden, chair of Labour’s parliamentary party, told MPs on Friday that Ridley had been the most “extraordinary servant”.

“Hollie delivered the first two Jo Cox women in leadership programmes, won countless elections against the odds, including the Peterborough by-election in 2019, she fought to turn our party around and never lost sight of the communities that Labour exists to serve,” she wrote.

The general secretary of the Labour Party is responsible for its operational management, including running election campaigns and paid staff.