Gray quits as PM's chief of staff to avoid ‘distraction'

Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to accept the resignation of his chief of staff Sue Gray in the latest attempt by the prime minister to regain control of the political agenda and end the chaos in his government.

- MILLIE COOKE, DAVID MADDOX

After less than three months in office since the election, the loss of Ms Gray – who he personally recruited to ensure he could drive through his policies through Whitehall once in power – is a major blow for Sir Keir.

But it follows weeks of infighting almost from the moment Labour won a historic election result, coupled with questions over gifts for the prime minister, Ms Gray and senior cabinet ministers, and fears the government has lost control of its own agenda.

Sir Keir has already attempted to reset the agenda three times with announcements about restricting gifts in the future and paying back some of them. Now he is being forced to reset his top team.

Ms Gray will take up a new role in government after admitting she had become a “distraction”, not least over revelations of her £170,000 salary – more than the prime minister. The move is part of a wider backroom reshuffle after some private criticism by ministers of the way the communications strategy was being run.

Morgan McSweeney becomes the new chief of staff, and James Lyons, a former Mirror journalist working as director of communications for the NHS, will head up a new strategic communications team. Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson will be deputy chiefs of staff.