Civil servants aren't supposed to be famous. They're supposed to be the hidden machine that keeps the country's wheels turning, no matter what. They're supposed to carry out the workings of government without prejudice, and without shouting about it - the spotlight, after all, should be on the elected representatives in parliament, not the workers in whitehall.
But one civil servant has become a household name in recent weeks: Sue Gray. Even if you don't know who she is, you'll likely have heard her name in passing on the evening news and thought, "Who is Sue Gray?"
Luckily, we're here to answer that exact question.
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Who is Sue Gray?
Sue Gray is a civil servant in the cabinet office. Her official title is second permanent secretary, making her the second-most senior civil servant in the department.
She was born in the late 1950s in London. She has been a civil servant all her working life, save for a career break in the late 1980s in which she ran a pub in Newry, Northern Ireland, with her husband, the country singer Bill Conlon.
Since returning to the civil service, she has worked in the departments of health, transport, and work and pensions, before joining the cabinet office in the late 1990s.
From 2012 to 2018, she was the director general for propriety and ethics. In this role she led the inquiry into Plebgate, the 2012 scandal in which the Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell was reported to have called serving police officers "plebs" when they wouldn't open a gate for him. She also led the investigation into Damian Green, the Tory MP and then-first secretary of state whose work computer in Westminster was found to contain pornography.
From 2018 to 2021 she went on secondment from the cabinet office to become the permanent secretary in the department of finance, Northern Ireland executive. Later in 2021 she returned to the cabinet office.
How is she connected to Boris Johnson?
Gray is leading the inquiry into the various Downing Street parties throughout the coronavirus lockdowns. The probe was initially led by Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, until it emerged that Case's office had also held a Christmas party in 2020. It was at this point that Gray was asked to step in.
Her report has been repeatedly delayed by further allegations of rule-breaking, and then by the Metropolitan Police's late decision to investigate. The Met also asked Gray to only make "minimal reference" to the specific events they are themselves investigating, leading to accusations of a cover-up.
Though Gray is reported to have high ethical standards and be independently-minded, she reports into the minister for the cabinet office, the Tory MP Steve Barclay, who in turn reports into Boris Johnson, who is the subject of much of the report. It would therefore be wrong to say, as some Tory MPs have claimed, that the inquiry is independent.
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