Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has reshuffled the Downing Street team following the resignation of Sue Gray as chief of staff.
Caught up in a row over pay, Gray quit her role on Sunday, saying in a statement that “intense commentary” around her position had become “a distraction” to the government’s work.
Concerns over Gray’s position and salary were raised when it was reported that she was paid more than the prime minister. According to BBC, her salary of £170,000 was about £3,000 more than Starmer’s.
“Throughout my career, my first interest has always been public service. However, in recent weeks it has become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the Government’s vital work of change.
“It is for that reason I have chosen to stand aside, and I look forward to continuing to support the Prime Minister in my new role,” she said.
Gray—who led an investigation into allegations of parties being held in Downing Street in breach of the COVID-19 lockdown rules—accepted a job offer from Starmer in March.
The move prompted claims from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Conservative MPs that she was politically biased and her Partygate report was tarnished. Whitehall’s appointments watchdog had then greenlighted Gray joining the government as Labour’s chief of staff six months after resigning from the civil service.
Starmer thanked Gray for “all the support” she has given him, both in opposition and government. Gray will now be joining Starmer as envoy for the regions and nations.
Overhaul
The government replaced Gray with Morgan McSweeney, a prominent political figure who led Labour’s general election campaign.The reshuffle includes the appointment of two new deputy chiefs of staff, Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson. Alakeson was Starmer’s director of external relations in opposition and entered Number 10 as political director.
Cuthbertson was the director of government relations in Downing Street since Labour’s landslide election win in July.
The overhaul of staff also saw the appointment of Nin Pandit as principal private secretary to Starmer. Pandit, previously an executive with NHS Digital, had joined Number 10 to run its policy unit.
Tory Reaction
Reacting to the news of Gray’s departure, the Conservatives said that Labour’s government had been “thrown into chaos.”“In fewer than 100 days Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government has been thrown into chaos, he has lost his chief of staff who has been at the centre of the scandal the Labour Party has been engulfed by,” a Conservative Party spokesperson said.
Leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick said that Labour is in “disarray” fewer than 100 days after taking over from the Conservatives.
Former Foreign Secretary and Tory leadership contender James Cleverly said that Labour’s “first 100 days have been a disaster, and their civil war continues with the loss of Sue Gray.”