Keir Starmer has said he and the former senior civil servant Sue Gray knew and followed the rules over her appointment as his chief of staff but admitted frustrations at not being able to defend the hiring while it was scrutinised by the Whitehall watchdog.
Giving details about the two calls he held with Gray, who will join his team in the autumn, the Labour leader said he had known her for a number of years and called her a “phenomenal woman”.
