He rose from a midlevel position at Columbia Records to become one of music’s most powerful executives, shepherding stars like Barry Manilow and Whitney Houston.

His departure in the coming weeks clears a path for Andy Burnham, a popular Labour Party mayor, to become the country’s seventh prime minister in a decade.

For years, creators were on the fringes at Creative Artists Agency, a Hollywood talent behemoth. Now the agency is putting them center stage.