Keir Starmer has refused to say when he first approached Sue Gray to become his chief of staff, saying only that they had no contact while she was holding an inquiry into Downing Street parties and that “nothing improper at all” had happened.
News that Gray, a senior civil servant who wrote a report into No 10 parties involving Boris Johnson and his staff during lockdown, was joining Starmer’s team prompted surprise when it emerged last week.
