Labour says it is ‘utterly ludicrous’ to claim hiring Sue Gray means Partygate report was biased – UK politics live

Comments come as Tory anger grows over Labour poaching Gray to work as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff

Good morning. Conservative MPs are furious this morning about the news that Sue Gray, the civil servant who led the Partygate investigation, has been poached by Labour to work as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. It is not than unusual for civil servants, who have to be impartial, to go to work for political parties, where by definition they are not. The most prominent example is Jonathan Powell, who left a senior job at the Foreign Office to become Tony Blair’s chief of staff two years before an election that Blair seemed certain to win. Gray is following his example, and presumably she hopes the comparison holds. Powell lasted 10 years in Downing Street, and was one of the most influential figures in that administration.

But there are some differences, which do raise legitimate questions about the appointment. Gray was at permanent secretary level, making her more senior than Powell was. At one stage she was head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office, which means she knows more about ministers’ secrets than almost anyone. And she oversaw the Partygate investigation into Boris Johnson, which contributed to his downfall. The Cabinet Office is concerned that she may have accepted the job before notifying the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and yesterday it said that was “reviewing the circumstances under which she resigned”.