Sir Keir Starmer has reshuffled his Number 10 team after Sue Gray quit as chief of staff on Sunday, citing concerns that questions over her position were becoming a distraction.
Parliament is set to return on Monday after a conference recess that saw the Government wrapped up in rows over Ms Gray’s salary and freebies for ministers and MPs.
Ms Gray quit on Sunday after weeks of reports of tensions in Number 10.
Less than 100 days since Labour’s general election victory, she will now take on a job working with the Prime Minister alongside the leaders of the devolved nations and regional mayors.
She will be replaced as the chief of staff by Morgan McSweeney who led Labour’s general election campaign, and with whom she was reported to have clashed.
There are two new deputy chiefs of staff in Vidhya Alakeson, the political director at Number 10, and Jill Cuthbertson, who has been director of government relations in Downing Street since their election win in July.
READ MORE: Chancellor urged by SNP to ‘stop pushing children into poverty’
She had previously worked for former Labour leaders Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband.
And after weeks of briefings about reported splits in Number 10, former journalist James Lyons will be in charge of a new strategic communications team, joining Downing Street from TikTok.
Nin Pandit, who previously ran the Downing Street policy unit, has been appointed principal private secretary to the Prime Minister, a senior civil service position.
Meanwhile partygate report author Ms Gray has been appointed the Prime Minister’s envoy for the regions and nations.
In her statement on Sunday, Ms Gray said: “It has been an honour to take on the role of chief of staff, and to play my part in the delivery of a Labour Government.
“Throughout my career, my first interest has always been public service.
“However, 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.”
Sir Keir thanked Ms Gray for “all the support she has given me, both in opposition and government, and her work to prepare us for government and get us started on our programme of change”.
he news of Ms Gray’s departure as chief of staff sparked claims of “chaos” from the Conservatives.
A party spokesperson said: “In fewer than 100 days Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government has been thrown into chaos, he has lost his chief of staff who has been at the centre of the scandal the Labour Party has been engulfed by”.
Leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick described the Government as being in “free fall” after the news, while fellow contender James Cleverly said Labour’s “first 100 days have been a disaster, and their civil war continues with the loss of Sue Gray”.
Fellow candidate Kemi Badenoch wrote in the Daily Mail that “Keir Starmer’s lack of integrity didn’t start with his freebies scandal” but the moment he hired Ms Gray.
“Now, the wheels have well and truly come off, ” she added.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel