Sue Gray to miss Labour Party conference

Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff has been at centre of saga about being paid more than Prime Minister and Downing Street in-fighting

Sue Gray is set to skip the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Sir Keir Starmer’s influential chief of staff has found herself at the centre of a saga about her pay and Downing Street in-fighting.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Ms Gray is being paid more than the Prime Minister, with a salary of £170,000 compared with Sir Keir’s £167,000.
A Downing Street source confirmed to The Telegraph that Ms Gray would not be attending the Labour conference, which runs from Sunday until Wednesday.
Her decision to skip the gathering means that Sir Keir’s most senior political aide will not be by his side for the first Labour conference for 15 years with the party in government.
During broadcast interviews on Sunday morning, as the conference began, Cabinet ministers defended Ms Gray and dismissed speculation she could soon leave No 10.
Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, said that Ms Gray would still be in Downing Street come Christmas. “I think so, absolutely”, she said when asked on BBC One.
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, voiced support for Ms Gray following a series of leaks about her actions and salary.
Ms Phillipson told Sky News: “What I would say about Sue Gray is that she is someone who brings enormous expertise, particularly in the running of government, to this role.”
She added: “In the dealings that I’ve had with Sue, [she] has always been highly professional and focused on delivering.”
Ms Gray has one of the biggest public profiles for a Downing Street insider in recent years, in part thanks to her role in Boris Johnson’s departure as prime minister.
While still in the civil service, she led the Whitehall investigation into claims of parties at the heart of government during Covid lockdowns.
Her findings were passed onto the Metropolitan Police, which eventually found dozens of individuals had broken lockdown laws for events in Downing Street or the Cabinet Office.
It comes after a senior Whitehall figure warned Sir Keir that Sue Gray “not of the party” and that only he could get a grip on the worsening situation.
One well-connected source said that figures close to the Prime Minister had been warned he needed to personally intervene and “get a grip” on the crisis.
“If this is continuing in four weeks’ time, then there’s something fundamentally wrong,” the Whitehall figure told The Telegraph.