Gray was once a fabled Whitehall figure, whose reputation as the guardian of government ethics was unmatched among civil servants but barely known by the public. That changed when she became the public face of the investigation into Partygate the flagrant breaking of Covid rules by officials under and including Boris Johnson. Then, in March 2023, Gray sensationally departed Whitehall to become Keir Starmer's chief of staff.
But in the next five weeks she will take a backseat to Morgan McSweeney, the strategy guru who is the only senior staff member to rival Gray in influence. Since Rishi Sunak announced the election date, Gray has been focused primarily on the second round of access talks with the civil service in preparation for if and when - if the polls are right - Labour forms the next government.
However, the separation of government and politics is not so simple. In recent months, Gray had joined the election planning meetings led by McSweeney and the campaign coordinator Pat McFadden. She and McSweeney still speak daily, and there are areas of overlap including the party's handling of the row around the veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott.
"Sue doesn't see things through the eyes of voters - she hasn't ever needed to," said one Labour figure on the operation's political wing. "She's the chief of staff but Morgan is running the show for this bit."
Until Gray's arrival, McSweeney retained a near unrivalled closeness to the leader. Starmer's original chief of staff, the ex-MP Jenny Chapman, was his biggest champion, but her style alienated some MPs and she was moved to sit in the shadow cabinet as a peer.
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin June 03, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin June 03, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Historic Hamilton thrills on way to ninth home victory
Mercedes driver shows mastery in wet conditions to end 945-day winless run
'I'm so proud he's a Lancastrian' - diehard fans pay their tributes to legend Anderson
Supporters see their favourite son show he has lost none of the old magic despite his Test career coming to an end
Kick or twist Smith's costly misses should force rethink for England in game of shrinking margins
Anyone who has ever played sport knows that desperate sinking feeling. One minute the world is a wonderful place and you are doing what you love most.
Royal Mail to go ahead with freight flight cuts in spite of takeover
The boss of Royal Mail's parent company has said the business will push on with a \"transformation\" of the group despite its £3.57bn takeover, as it prepares this month to cut more daily freight flights.
All eyes on Biden at Nato summit as leaders brace for Trump presidency
As European leaders and top defense officials from 31 Nato countries descend on Washington tomorrow, all eyes will be focused firmly on Joe Biden, whose faltering performance at last month's debate has added to concerns about the country that some Europeans already described as their \"unpredictable ally\".
Rob Burrow Celebratory farewell for rugby league inspiration
Children in full rugby kits play cheerfully in front of the Featherstone Lions rugby club in Pontefract as adults sporting bright jerseys drink, eat and chat joyfully.
Another new dawn? What Starmer's team can learn from 1997's New Labour
Veterans of Labour's 1997 victory party at the Royal Festival Hall by the end the dancefloor looked like a war zone strewn with dozing bodies - will remember the sense of disbelief and excitement as the scale of the landslide started to materialise.
Baverman is losing support as potential party leader, say Tories
Conservatives have suggested that the former home secretary Suella Braverman is losing support as a potential future party leader, as Tory MPs who lost votes across southern England privately urged colleagues to resist a lurch to the right.
Flying start Lightning trip begins reset of relationship with Europe
It felt like a deeply symbolic, even cathartic, moment on Saturday lunchtime as, on take off from Stansted, the pilot carrying the new foreign secretary, David Lammy, banked the government plane with the Union Jack livery sharply leftwards across the sodden and half occluded fields of Essex and towards Europe.
Lammy seeks EU security pact on defence, energy and climate crisis
Labour is seeking a sweeping joint declaration with the EU to usher in a wide-ranging security pact covering defence, energy, the climate crisis, pandemics and even illegal migration, the foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said.
