Sue Gray, the former UK civil servant who played a key role in the downfall of Boris Johnson’s administration, is rapidly emerging as a pivotal figure in Labour high command as the party steps up its general election campaign.
Labour colleagues told the Financial Times that Gray had quickly become a managerial enabler for Sir Keir Starmer, party leader, straightening out internal lines of communication as a de facto chief executive of his office.
The appointment of Gray as chief of staff initially sparked controversy. She had previously headed Whitehall’s internal investigation into “partygate”, a scandal that led to more than 100 fines being issued to officials and ministers for breaking Covid-19 lockdown laws.
The move to Labour prompted consternation among some Conservatives and fellow civil servants who believed it could impair Whitehall’s reputation for political neutrality.
Acoba, the government’s appointments watchdog, ordered her to take six months of gardening leave before she assumed her post in September last year.
Gray, who has a reputation for rooting out wrongdoing in Westminster, now holds a crucial role within Labour’s office as the party gears up for months of campaigning ahead of the national vote later this year.
The former mandarin has already brought more structure to “Loto”, as the leader of the opposition’s office is dubbed, by straightening out numerous overlapping power structures and hierarchies.
The attention to relationship-building has not gone unnoticed. Josh Simons, head of the Labour Together think-tank, said Gray had energised policy development while bringing “order and focus” to operations.
“Sue pays close attention to how teams work and relationships are built,” he said.
On her first day in post, she told Labour headquarters staff: “You had my back [during her gardening leave] and now I’ll have your back.”
The morale-boosting address set the tone for an approach that has won her allies within the party, who cite her deft emotional intelligence. Her accumulation of influence contrasts with previous perceptions that her role would be confined to preparation for government.
Instead, she has become Starmer’s political fixer, finding a route through internal party disagreements and discussions before the leader makes his final decisions.
“When she came in there was an expectation that she would be focusing on . . . the mission-driven government, breaking down silos, civil service planning, but she’s been much more involved in political decisions on a day-to-day basis,” said one senior Labour figure.
Gray has exerted influence by chairing a daily strategy meeting on the crisis in Gaza, which has torn the party apart and led to 10 front-bench resignations in mid-November after Starmer refused to back an immediate ceasefire.
The chief of staff has also started attending a meeting of special advisers held every Wednesday. “She is always first in and last out of Loto each day,” said one member of staff.
On Saturday evenings, she often dials into an evening call between the party’s communications team and whichever shadow minister is doing the Sunday morning “broadcast round”. “It’s a sign of her work ethic,” said one colleague.
Beyond Westminster, the chief of staff has carried out extensive outreach with regional leaders, such as Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, mending fences and smoothing previously scratchy relationships.
Gray’s appointment has also drawn criticism. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory leader, said her transition from Whitehall to Labour had been “astonishingly” fast and “badly” handled, adding: “It’s politicised the civil service.”
Her supporters, however, have pointed to historical examples of civil servants taking the leap into politics, such as former chiefs of staff Jonathan Powell and Ed Llewellyn for Labour and the Conservatives, respectively.
Those familiar with Gray’s career experience should be unsurprised by her newfound influence.
As a civil servant, she held roles in the departments of health, transport and work and pensions. But she is mostly remembered as the redoubtable director-general of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office from 2012 to 2018, making decisive rulings.
These sometimes led to ministerial sackings as in the case of former de facto deputy prime minister Damian Green and former defence secretary Liam Fox.
However, the recent selection of her son Liam Conlon as Labour candidate for Beckenham and Penge, a target seat in south London, has raised eyebrows in political circles.
Marco Longhi, Conservative MP for Dudley North, said: “How can Labour defend the accusation of nepotism over Sue Gray’s son’s selection? Is this a Labour party/Starmer saying: ‘Thank you’?”. A Labour spokesperson denied the charge, highlighting that Conlon “has a long history of Labour activism”.
Party figures describe Gray as a “fresh pair of eyes”. Some MPs and advisers have found her approach more inclusive than what one branded Starmer’s previously “male-heavy” team of senior advisers.
“Until Sue . . . the really influential people have been Morgan McSweeney, Matthew Doyle, Stuart Ingham, those have long been the male-heavy people at the centre of the team,” they said. “The boys have sometimes made people feel excluded in the past.”
But grumbles persist about the Labour office’s overall level of professionalism. Colleagues noted that some meetings took place without any advance agenda and that decisions were made without a clear plan for delivery afterwards.
Morale among Starmer’s advisers is also said to be fragile, with paranoia afoot that some loyal foot soldiers who have stuck with the party could be cast aside for higher-profile figures if Labour wins power, for example former employees of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
One Labour figure said Gray had been a good listener. “She has been quite emotionally literate with everyone, with staff, with MPs. She has been fantastic so far, although maybe ask me again in a few months.”
