Keir Starmer fixer Sue Gray quits after Labour ‘coup’

Dowing Street chief of staff Sue Gray resigns after three months of ‘dysfunction’.

Sue Gray at Labour Party conference in Liverpool last month. Picture: AFP

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer moved to reboot his government after months of scandal and infighting by ousting his chief of staff on Sunday and promoting a key political strategist to run his Downing Street operation.

In a wide-ranging shake-up, Sir Keir sacked Sue Gray after only three months in the job and replaced her with Morgan McSweeney, who masterminded Labour’s election victory.

One ally of Ms Gray claimed that she had been the victim of a “coup” orchestrated by Mr McSweeney’s supporters. However, critics said Sir Keir had concluded that she was responsible for much of the dysfunction engulfing his new government and also blamed her for failing to get on top of the donations scandal.

“There was a total lack of foresight or awareness about the criticism of crony appointments, wealthy donors, freebies – all the stuff she assumed would be OK because the Tories had done the same,” one critic said.

Another senior figure said Sir Keir wanted to act before Labour marked 100 days in power this month. “Keir is always willing to make the changes that are necessary to move this project forward,” the source said. “He was keen to do that before a glut of terrible pieces on his first 100 days.”

The Times understands that Ms Gray was told by Sir Keir on Thursday that he wanted to replace her, but the announcement was delayed while the terms of her exit were negotiated.

She will take on a new role as his envoy for the regions and ­nations, on a reduced salary.

Mr McSweeney ran Labour’s campaign for the July 4 election but has no experience of government. His allies were blamed for a string of negative stories about Ms Gray being briefed to the media, including details of her £170,000 ($328,000) pay, higher than that of the prime minister.

Senior government figures said Sir Keir felt he needed a more political figure running his Downing Street operation, which has for weeks been accused of failing to shut down negative news stories stemming from the donations scandal.

The Labour party conference last month was overshadowed by several rows including the alleged in-fighting and anger over Sir Keir accepting freebies worth thousands of pounds.

Sir Keir is also said to have been concerned about criticism of Ms Gray from within the civil service after claims that she had blocked senior Downing Street officials from attending key meetings with the Prime Minister.

Sir Keir thanked Ms Gray for her work preparing Labour for government and said she would play a “vital role in strengthening our relations with the regions and nations”.

Ms Gray said it had been an “honour” to take on the role of chief of staff, and to play a part in the “delivery of a Labour government”. She added: “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.”

Ms Gray’s departure marks the end of a remarkable career in frontline politics in which she moved from being a senior civil servant to running Labour’s preparations for government.

She came to public attention after being appointed by then Tory prime minister Boris Johnson to investigate the parties scandal, which hastened his political demise. Ms Gray then infuriated the Tories by announcing she was leaving the civil service to join Sir Keir as his chief of staff in opposition, taking up the role in September last year.

After Labour’s victory, she attracted controversy with claims that she tried to marginalise Mr McSweeney and tightly control access to the Prime Minister. During the scandal over Downing Street gifts, she was blamed for failing to appreciate the damage the revelations were causing.

THE TIMES