The rise and fall of Sue Gray

Sue Gray has resigned as the chief of staff to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. This resignation came alongside the drip drip of information about donations to key members of the inner circle of the Labour government, including to Starmer himself.

Using material from the British official record, broadly defined as the sum total of material created as a result of the operations of the British state, we can trace Gray’s career to see both why she was chosen to work for Starmer and why she ended up having to quit so soon. Her time in government has coincided with some key moments in recent British political history and changes at the top of the British state.

Prior to more high-profile roles, Gray worked in the Department for Transport, the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions. During a career break, she was also a publican in Northern Ireland.

Gray first worked for the Cabinet Office in the late 1990s, and worked as director general for propriety and ethics there for six years from 2012. From 2018 to 2021 she went on secondment to become the permanent secretary at the Northern Ireland Executive’s Department of Finance. In May 2021 Gray moved back to the Cabinet Office to become permanent secretary with responsibility for the Union and Constitution Directorate.

Following media reporting on gatherings held at the department of education and 10 Downing Street that may have contravened COVID-19 regulations in early December 2021, an investigation was launched.

This was initially led by cabinet secretary Simon Case but he soon recused himself after being caught up in the allegations himself. It was Gray who was tasked to take over what became known as the partygate investigation.

Partygate report and Johnson resignation

Gray first published an update on her work looking into partygate in January 2022, followed by a full report in May of that year.

Among other things, she found that at least some of the gatherings amounted to “a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time”. She wrote that “failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office” had occurred.

Less than two weeks after Gray’s final report was published, Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a vote of no confidence, although 148 Conservative MPs (41%) voted against him. Many MPs cited Johnson’s lack of repentance as justification for their votes against him. By July, Johnson had been convinced to resign when dozens of members of his government walked out en masse during the course of one 24-hour period.

Joining and leaving Labour

In March 2023, Gray resigned from the civil service. She had been recruited by the opposition to prepare Labour for government when it started to look like the party could really take power.

However, after seeking legal advice from the advisory committee on business appointments, she took six months out to ensure a “clear break” between working for the civil service and a political party.

Nevertheless, Gray’s decision to change roles led a government investigation to accuse her of breaching the civil service code. Labour rejected this claim and accused the government of “wasting time on this Mickey Mouse nonsense”.

As Labour entered government in early July, Gray transitioned to being chief of staff for Starmer. However, just over two months later, details of how much Gray was being paid were leaked to the BBC.

At £170,000, Gray’s salary was £3,000 higher than Starmer’s. An interesting question here is why this is actually a problem. Perhaps some were unhappy about the difference between the salary of Gray and their own salary. Or maybe the story that she earned more than the prime minister was just too tempting to leak looking to cause trouble for other reasons.

This story broke as details about how Starmer and others in the central Labour team had taken gifts and hospitality from party donors also emerged. As happened towards the end of the Conservative period in power in recent years, multiple stories and scandals, including the details about Gray’s salary, started to been seen as part of a single narrative.

It may also be the case that, after 14 years out of government, those at the top of the Labour party were unprepared for the greater level of scrutiny that comes with being in power.

On October 6, two-and-a-half weeks after details of her salary were leaked, Gray resigned. In her resignation statement, Gray said: “It has become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government’s vital work of change.”

Beyond the salary story, concerns had also been raised about power and decision-making being concentrated in Gray’s hands. Her case also raises questions about how possible it is to smoothly transition from the civil service to a political post.

Gray has now moved into the newly created, and seemingly ill-defined, role of “envoy for the regions and nations”. This will include work on the new Council of Nations and Regions, the body Starmer has set up to focus on delivering more equitable devolution.

It’s not clear whether this new role is a way of massaging Gray out of frontline roles permanently, if it’s a role with real teeth that will allow Gray the ability to impact events in a way she has in the past, or a placeholder until another prominent position more suited to her skills is available. For the latter to be possible though, the political winds will need to change.

Peter Finn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.