Sue Gray: The Partygate investigator who crashed to earth

Sue Gray has now stepped back from her controversial role as the Prime Minister's chief of staff
Sue Gray has stepped back from her controversial role as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff - Steve Back

She paved the way for Boris Johnson’s downfall with her investigations into Partygate, and then became the central organiser of Sir Keir Starmer’s operation in No 10.

But Sue Gray has now stepped back from her controversial role as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff following weeks of rumoured infighting between senior aides in Downing Street.

After entering No 10 with a high profile from her report into lockdown-breaking parties, which she led while a senior civil servant, Ms Gray was under more pressure to deliver from day one than many of her predecessors. She was said to be uncomfortable with the name recognition over Partygate.

Ms Gray’s tenure became increasingly uncertain as she allegedly clashed with aides and became the subject of headlines herself.

Former colleagues described her as tough, professional and diligent but Ms Gray, who joined the Labour team only last year, found herself competing for influence with Morgan McSweeney, the man who “made” Sir Keir, masterminded his election win and is trusted above all others.

After entering Downing Street, Ms Gray was said to be uncomfortable with her profile over the Partygate investigation
After entering Downing Street, Ms Gray was said to be uncomfortable with her profile over the Partygate investigation - Leon Neal/Reuters

Mr McSweeney, who had been serving as head of political strategy, will now replace Ms Gray as chief of staff.

‘Failures of leadership’

Ms Gray, 66, joined the Civil Service straight after school and rose to the post of second permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office, where she took charge of the Partygate investigation into Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation during Covid.

Gray’s report found “failures of leadership and judgment in No 10 and the Cabinet Office” for which “the senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility”.

She was later recruited by Sir Keir and officially joined Labour as his chief of staff last September. Her son, Liam Conlon, is the MP for Beckenham and Penge.

In recent weeks it emerged she was paid more than the Prime Minister with a salary of £170,000, £3,000 more than that of Sir Keir, after the salary was leaked in an apparent attempt to damage her politically.

She became one of the most powerful figures in No 10, even delivering the call to ministers that they would be part of the new government.

However within weeks of Labour taking power Downing Street was said to be in disarray as a power struggle broke out between Ms Gray and Mr McSweeney

Ms Gray’s job before the election was to prepare Labour for Government by making sure it had a raft of policies it could start implementing, under her guidance, as soon as it seized power.

It led to strains with Mr McSweeney, who was said to be so risk-averse in his focus on winning the election that the Labour manifesto barely contained any policies at all.

Whitehall sources claimed she thinks “she runs the country” amid disquiet over her powerful role within the Government.

Ms Gray became one of the most powerful figures in Sir Kerir Starmer's No 10 operation
Ms Gray became one of the most powerful figures in Sir Kerir Starmer’s No 10 operation - ZUMA Press/Alamy Stock Photo

Insiders claimed to journalists that Ms Gray was accused of preventing Sir Keir from receiving security updates by blocking access to him.

Downing Street dismissed the accusations against Ms Gray as “noises off from people who don’t know what they’re talking about”.

Fraught relationship

Multiple figures who have worked with Ms Gray have also suggested she had a fraught relationship with Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, dating back many years.

The Partygate investigation landed with Ms Gray after Mr Case, who started the investigation, had to recuse himself when his own behaviour came under scrutiny.

She had experience of high profile investigations from a previous role as the Cabinet Office’s director general of propriety and ethics.

Ms Gray's powerful role within the Government led to Whitehall sources claiming she thinks 'she runs the country'
Ms Gray’s powerful role within the Government led to Whitehall sources claiming she thinks ‘she runs the country’ - Stefan Rousseau/PA

The fate of Mr Johnson and his aides hung on her every move as she interviewed witnesses and produced an interim, and then a final report.

It did not result in the immediate resignation of Boris Johnson but did much to weaken his grip on power, also helping to trigger the public perception of “Tory sleaze” that dogged Rishi Sunak in the election campaign.

Gray is said to have hated the attention of the Partygate investigation, making her “feel vulnerable” after decades working in the civil service, which she joined straight from school in the 1970s.

Ms Gray’s parents moved to London from Ireland in the 1950s and she was born in the capital, where her father Leo worked as a furniture salesman and her mother as a barmaid.

Career break in Northern Ireland

She took a brief career break in Northern Ireland in the 1980s where, at the height of The Troubles, she ran The Cove pub in the border town of Newry after meeting her husband Bill Conlon, a country singer.

This unorthodox move raised some questions, including the suggestion she was a spy. She is said to have once been stopped by paramilitaries, but after being flagged down by a group of masked men, one said: “That’s Sue Gray from The Cove, let her go on.” Ms Gray has not commented on this alleged encounter.

When she returned to Northern Ireland decades later as a civil servant she was asked if she was once a spy. “I think if I was a spy, I’d be a pretty poor spy,” she replied.

Asked if she was a spy on her return to Northern Ireland as a civil servant, Ms Gray replied: 'I'd be a pretty poor spy'
Asked if she was a spy on her return to Northern Ireland as a civil servant, Ms Gray replied: ‘I’d be a pretty poor spy’ - Liam McBurney/PA

After moving back to London in 1987, Ms Gray worked at several Government departments before joining the Cabinet Office in 1990.

As director general of the propriety and ethics team she conducted the Cabinet Office inquiry into the behaviour of Andrew Mitchell over “plebgate”, which led to his resignation as chief whip.

In 2018, Ms Gray transferred to the Northern Ireland Civil Service as Permanent secretary of the Department of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive. Then in 2021 she returned to Whitehall to become Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office. She reported to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who at the time was Michael Gove.

‘Unless she agrees, things don’t happen’

In his memoir, Liberal Democrat former minister David Laws recalls being told by a colleague: “It took me precisely two years before I realised who it is that runs Britain.

“Our great United Kingdom is actually entirely run by a lady called Sue Gray, the head of ethics or something in the Cabinet Office - unless she agrees, things just don’t happen.”

She resigned from the Civil Service in March 2023 after being approached by Sir Keir to work for him, and was found by the Cabinet Office to have broken the Civil Service code by holding talks about the job while she was still a civil servant, but was allowed to take up the role last September.

‘Blunt, honest opinion’

Former colleagues have said Ms Gray “ isn’t dry like some Whitehall folk” and  “she can see the funny side of things and likes a joke”.

She was believed to be an asset to Sir Keir for her “blunt, honest opinion about things”.

“She will tell the unvarnished truth rather than sitting on the fence or trying to sugar-coat anything, and in certain situations that hasn’t made her popular with her peers,” a former colleague said.

Despite her loyalty to Sir Keir after joining Labour, while in the civil service she never betrayed any party political leanings.

“It was never obvious that she was a Labour supporter,” a former Downing Street staffer said.