Sue Gray takes up seat in House of Lords – and receives new title
Sir Keir Starmer’s ex-chief of staff resigned last October amid a power struggle
in Number 10.
Political reporter @alexrogerssky [http://twitter.com/@alexrogerssky]
Tuesday 11 February 2025 16:29, UK
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Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Gray has taken up her place in the
House of Lords after she was nominated by the prime minister for a peerage.
Ms Gray [https://news.sky.com/topic/sue-gray-10627] will now be known as
Baroness Gray of Tottenham, representing the place in north London where she was
born.
The former civil servant, who quit Downing Street last October
[https://news.sky.com/story/sue-gray-resigns-as-downing-street-chief-of-staff-13229007]
after about three months in the role, was nominated for a life peerage by the
prime minister in December.
She had resigned from her job as Sir Keir’s top adviser amid a power struggle in
Number 10.
It saw Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s former campaign director who masterminded the
party’s election landslide, replace her in the role.
Politics latest: UK ‘ready to work’ with Trump on steel tariffs
[https://news.sky.com/story/politics-latest-immigration-labour-starmer-badenoch-farage-live-news-12593360]
Ms Gray rose to public prominence after authoring the report into parties in
Downing Street during the pandemic
[https://news.sky.com/story/sue-gray-report-senior-leadership-must-take-responsibility-for-downing-street-party-culture-during-lockdown-12621028].
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one winner
Her move to Labour attracted headlines from the beginning, with the Tories
raising questions about how much contact she’d had with the party about the top
job while still a civil servant.
But it was an internal row that led to her leaving the chief of staff role, with
Labour’s first three months in office dominated by negative headlines about her.
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Tensions over Ms Gray’s position reached a crescendo when her salary of £170,000
– some £3,000 more than the prime minister – was leaked to the BBC in an
apparent attempt to damage her politically.
It was also reported at the time that she was blamed by party staff who were
disgruntled they were not being paid more than what they received when Labour
was in opposition.
Ms Gray missed Labour’s first party conference
[https://news.sky.com/story/sir-keir-starmers-under-fire-chief-of-staff-sue-gray-to-miss-labour-party-conference-13220002]
in power as the prime minister attracted scrutiny
[https://news.sky.com/story/keir-starmers-freebies-everything-you-need-to-know-and-why-theyre-proving-so-controversial-13217722]
for the more than £100,000 worth of gifts he accepted as Labour leader,
including tickets to football matches, concerts and luxury clothes.
Baroness Gray was later offered the role of the prime minister’s envoy for the
nations and regions, which she ultimately rejected
[https://news.sky.com/story/sue-gray-rejects-starmers-job-offer-after-quitting-as-chief-of-staff-13253141]
after missing the first key summit
[https://news.sky.com/story/sue-gray-to-miss-first-key-summit-in-new-role-13231465]
relevant to her new remit.
In her resignation letter last October, Ms Gray said that while it had been “an
honour to take on the role of chief of staff”, it had become clear 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 added.
Read more:
Insiders lift the lid on Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s new closest confidante
[https://news.sky.com/story/starmers-saviour-insiders-lift-the-lid-on-morgan-mcsweeney-the-pms-new-closest-confidante-13230168]
How Margaret Thatcher’s legacy lives on 50 years after she became Tory leader
[https://news.sky.com/story/how-margaret-thatchers-legacy-lives-on-50-years-after-she-became-tory-leader-13306941]
Ms Gray was among 30 new Labour peerages announced ahead of Christmas to redress
the party “imbalance” in the House of Lords.
The Conservatives nominated six people, and the Liberal Democrats two.
Taking her seat in the unelected House of Lords, Ms Gray wore the traditional
scarlet robes for the short introduction ceremony in the upper chamber, where
she swore the oath of allegiance to the King.
She was supported by former Whitehall chief and independent crossbencher Lord
O’Donnell and fellow Labour peer Baroness Harman.
Her son, the Labour MP Liam Conlon, watched the ceremony from the public gallery
in the Lords.
