Sue Gray ‘rejects new government job’ after being ousted as Keir Starmer’s top aide in No10 power struggle – amid questions over whether the taxpayer is still footing her £170,000 salary_Nhy
Sue Gray has reportedly turned down a new government job after being forced out of No10 in a Labour power struggle.
Keir Starmer‘s former chief of staff was offered a role as the PM’s ‘envoy for the nations and regions’ after being ousted in early October.
Ms Gray subsequently missed an inaugural gathering of the PM’s new council of nations and regions on 11 October, despite expectations she would attend.
Yesterday, six weeks after she walked out, No10 was still insisting she was on a ‘short break’ before taking up her new role.
Now the FT reports that she has turned it down as ‘ultimately she’s decided she doesn’t want to do it.’
However that is at odds with her own words in October when she said she had already accepted it and was ;looking forward to starting work.
However that report came after the Guardian and the Guido Fawkes blog reported that the PM had withdrawn the offer, amid questions about her remit.
The PM’s spokesman told a briefing for political journalists yesterday that there is no update on Ms Gray’s status, and also refused to say whether she is still earning her previous £170,000 salary.
She was reported to be getting a peerage to give her new role extra clout.
Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff was offered a role as the PM’s ‘envoy for the nations and regions’ after being ousted in early October.
However that report came after the Guardian and the Guido Fawkes blog reported that the PM had withdrawn the offer, amid questions about her remit.
There have been claims that Ms Gray is pushing for a payoff, as well as suggestions she could be given a peerage by Sir Keir.
Her three months in No10 were marked by regular reports of tensions within Sir Keir’s top team, while it was leaked that she was earning more than Sir Keir’s salary of £166,786.
Ms Gray said she was leaving the chief of staff role because it was ‘clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction’.
She has been replaced as Sir Keir’s chief of staff by Morgan McSweeney, the apparent victor in a Downing Street power struggle.
He had previously overseen Labour’s victorious general election campaign and been the PM’s top political adviser in No10.
Ms Gray and Labour donor Lord Alli – an ally of Sir Keir – were spotted catching up on over lunch last week.
The pair, known to be old friends, were spotted dining at the Dean Street Townhouse in London‘s Soho.
‘Sue has taken a decision not to take the role. She’s going to focus on other things,’ an ally of the ex-civil servant told the FT.
They added: ‘She’s taken time to think about it properly, talking to stakeholders, but ultimately she’s decided she doesn’t want to do it.’
Previous reporting suggested Ms Gray was negotiating over the terms of the job and her exit from Downing Street.
