Sue Gray has described her brief spell working for Keir Starmer in No10 as “unbearable”, speaking publicly for the first time about the hostile briefing battles that engulfed Downing Street.
Baroness Gray of Tottenham served as Sir Keir’s chief of staff at the start of his premiership, but her tenure at the heart of government lasted only three months.
Her departure followed an internal power struggle, after weeks in which Westminster was filled with reports of friction between her and other senior figures inside No10.
In her first interview since leaving Downing Street, Baroness Gray reflected on what she called a “very, very, very difficult period” in the Prime Minister’s top team.
She said the atmosphere became so fraught that she worried someone might be recording “everything you say” inside No10, and she criticised Sir Keir for failing to do more to halt briefings directed against her.
Baroness Gray said the negative briefings began while Labour was still in opposition, when she would “read about things that I would have said or not said”, and then carried on after the party entered government.
“I had always taken a view as a civil servant and actually as a special adviser that you know you should be able to speak freely in rooms,” she told the Political Currency podcast.
“And I couldn’t recall those sort of discussions being briefed out.”
Sue Gray has admitted it was ‘unbearable’ working in No10 for Keir Starmer as she broke her silence on the bitter briefing wars in Downing Street
Baroness Gray was Sir Keir’s chief of staff in No10 at the start of his time as prime minister but lasted just three months in the role
In her first interview since leaving Downing Street, Baroness Gray told the Political Currency podcast about the ‘very, very, very difficult period’ she endured
Baroness Gray’s relationship with Morgan McSweeney, who went on to replace her as Sir Keir’s top aide, was the subject of a number of reports of tensions within No10.
She was also damaged when it was leaked that she was earning more than the PM’s salary of £166,786.
Baroness Gray added: ‘Here I found myself, you know, stories about supposedly trying to move Morgan McSweeney to the back of the building.
‘Actually, that was a genuine, ‘I can’t believe so many of you are going to sit in this small room, let’s find a better room for you’.’
She continued: ‘It just got to the point where you know everything you say, you feel is somebody is recording it.’
Asked whether Sir Keir was willing to act on her concerns, she said: ‘I talked to him a couple of times about it, and I don’t really want to disclose individual conversations.
‘But I was disappointed that not more was done because I think it could have been done.’
Sir Keir’s government faced criticism from Labour members, including the party’s deputy leader Lucy Powell, who described a ‘boys club’ culture in No10, with a pattern of ‘anonymous nasty briefings’ – particularly against women.
‘It was definitely unbearable, particularly for me,’ Baroness Gray said. ‘And I would say that none of that briefing came from me.
‘I think it was very difficult, and it was just affecting me and my life.
‘I was getting into the office very early in the morning. I was leaving late to avoid…. It was very, very, very difficult period.’
Baroness Gray’s relationship with Morgan McSweeney, who went on to replace her as Sir Keir’s top aide, was the subject of a number of reports of tensions within No10
Just four months after her exit from No10, Baroness Gray formally entered the House of Lords after she was among a slew of new Labour peers named by Sir Keir
Asked about the lack of positive vision in the early days of Sir Keir’s government and how much was her responsibility, she said: ‘I think ultimately, you have a leader of the party, you have a prime minister, leader of the opposition.
‘You have to set your vision, your agenda, and that is definitely what everybody is looking for.’
Prior to joining Sir Keir’s Labour team, Baroness Gray had been a long-serving civil servant and led the ‘Partygate’ investigation into Covid rule-breaking in Whitehall.
She went from an influential but little-known arbiter of conduct in government to a household name when she took on the ‘Partygate’ probe in 2021.
Baroness Gray stepped in to lead the investigation after then-cabinet secretary Simon Case, her boss, recused himself following claims his own office held a lockdown-busting event.
Civil service impartiality was later thrown into question following her shock move to quit the Cabinet Office to join Labour as Sir Keir’s chief of staff.
After weeks of negative briefings against her following Labour’s general election victory in July 2024, Baroness Gray announced her resignation in October that year.
She cited concerns that she was ‘becoming a distraction’ to the work of government.
Baroness Gray had initially been due to take up a newly-created role as ‘envoy to the nations and regions’ following a short break from government.
But Downing Street announced a month after her departure as Sir Keir’s chief of staff that she had decided not to take up the envoy job.
Just four months after her exit from No10, Baroness Gray formally entered the House of Lords after being among a slew of new Labour peers named by Sir Keir.
This was despite the then-PM having previously promised to abolish the unelected chamber.
