The senior civil servant who oversaw the Partygate inquiry is expected is expected to join Sir Keir Starmer’s team this year after being given the green light by a government watchdog.
Sue Gray is said to have been cleared to become the Labour leader’s chief of staff in the autumn after an advisory body rejected a Cabinet Office call for a ban for over a year.
News of Sir Keir’s desire to appoint Ms Gray sparked outrage from senior Tories who called for an inquiry into her contacts with Labour while working as a top civil servant at the Cabinet Office.
Boris Johnson allies lashed out by claiming Ms Gray’s Partygate report was a “left-wing stitch-up”. The former PM said he wished he had asked about her political leanings before she was tasked with investigating Covid events at No 10 and Whitehall.
But the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) – which scrutinises roles taken by ex-ministers and civil servants – has recommended she need take only six months out, according to The Times.
The newspaper reported that the Cabinet Office had recommended Ms Gray should be blocked from the political role for a year, with a further six-month ban on any contact the government.
Her former employer is thought to have concerns that she breached the civil service code by failing to act with honesty, integrity and impartiality in her contact with Labour.
But Acoba is said to have had concerns about the Cabinet Office’s report on her exit and the length of the suggested restrictions – unprecedented in dealing with former ministers and officials’ jobs after government.
Six months gardening leave for Ms Gray will come as relief to Sir Keir. An effective ban of 18 months could have ruined the Labour leader’s plans in the run-up to the general election expected in 2024.
It emerged that Ms Gray was quitting her senior role at the Cabinet Office back in March, when Labour confirmed that Sir Keir was “delighted” that she was hoping to join the team.
However, the Cabinet Office announced it was “reviewing the circumstances” under which Ms Gray resigned from her role, amid fury from senior Tories pointing to her role in key events which led to Mr Johnson’s downfall.
Her damning report on “failures of leadership” led to a Metropolitan Police probe which saw Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak fined for attending a birthday party inside No 10.
Nadine Dorries, a top Johnson loyalist, said the move was “not surprising” – claiming Ms Gray’s Partygate report was a “stitch up” of the ex-PM and his staff. And Jacob Rees-Mogg complained: “So much for an impartial civil service.”
Mr Johnson – who referred to Ms Gray as a “psycho”, according to his former comms chief – recently told MPs on the Partygate inquiry he wished he had “cross-examined her more closely about her independence”.
Reacting to news Ms Gray had been cleared to join in the autumn, Tory MP Brendan-Clarke tweeted: “Absolutely shocking, but sadly part of a wider pattern.”
Senior Labour MP Chris Bryant responded: “You know it’s chaired by a Conservative peer?” – a reference to former Tory minister Eric Pickles’ role as Acoba’s chair.
Labour is believed to have approached Ms Gray over the vacant role of chief of staff in the autumn of 2022, several months after she completed the Partygate inquiry report.
Sir Keir has said he was confident she had not broken any rules after she was offered the job in March. “I had no discussions with her whilst she was investigating Boris Johnson whatsoever,” he said.
Dave Penman, head of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, said it was “unforgivable” for Tory MPs to question Ms Gray’s integrity during the Partygate probe.
Although Acoba offers recommendations on the suitability of post-government roles, it is ultimately up to Mr Sunak to sanction or block any appointment. But overruling Acoba would be unprecedented.
