Sue Gray resigns as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff

LONDON — Keir Starmer’s most senior aide, Sue Gray, has quit her role as the U.K. prime minister overhauls his Downing Street operation following a rocky start in government.

Gray, a former senior civil servant, had become a lightning rod for internal criticism since Labour’s election victory on July 4, with colleagues blaming her for a myriad of issues including communications failures, the slow appointment of ministers and low pay for special advisers. 

“She had a lot of protection being a civil servant — but she has none of that now,” one senior Whitehall official warned POLITICO in August. 

Most recently Gray had come in for criticism over a series of small-scale scandals which have wrecked Labour’s first months in office, including the appointment of key political aides and donors to impartial civil service roles, and headline-grabbing rows over the donations and hospitality accepted by the prime minister and his top team. 

One former colleague of Gray complained last month that her previous role as head of government ethics in the Cabinet Office meant she ought to be “wired to look for scandal” — and yet “within the first 100 days, the scandals keep coming.” 

Gray will now be replaced as Downing Street chief of staff by Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s top political adviser, as part of a wider shakeup of the Downing Street operation.

In a statement, Gray said that her “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,” she added. 

Gray will now take up an advisory position as “envoy for the regions and nations.” Downing Street did not confirm whether the role will be paid. 

Starmer thanked Gray for “all the support she has given me, both in opposition and government.”