Gray given peerage months after being sacked by PM

Sue Gray has been handed a peerage by Sir Keir Starmer, Downing Street confirmed yesterday.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The prime minister's former chief of staff, who was responsible for the Partygate investigation that helped topple Boris Johnson’s government, will become a life peer.

Her peerage comes just months after she was sacked following a brutal power struggle at the heart of Sir Keir’s Downing Street operation between Ms Gray and Morgan McSweeney, who has now taken her job.

After less than three months in office, the loss of Ms Gray – who he personally recruited to ensure he could drive through his policies in Whitehall once in power – was a major blow for Sir Keir.

It followed weeks of infighting, which began almost immediately after Labour’s election win, as well as the revelation she was being paid more than the prime minister, receiving a £170,000 salary. Offering her resignation in October, Ms Gray said she had become a “distraction” from the PM’s work, citing “intense commentary” around her position.