Her name became a kind of mantra for those hoping the UK could restore order amid the debauched chaos of Boris Johnson’s administration. “Sue Gray”, ministers and opposition leaders told the media last winter, as anger heightened over drunken No 10 parties held during lockdown, while the public was banned from comforting dying loved ones. “Sue Gray is investigating Partygate. Sue Gray will uncover the truth.”
In two separate, explosive releases – an interim report in January, and a final report in May – the former head of propriety and ethics, with a fearsome reputation for acquiring political scalps, left little doubt. In short, uncompromising sentences, she laid out the failings of politicians and senior civil servants: “The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in the government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen.”
