After news broke yesterday that Sue Gray, the author of the 'Partygate' inquiry, has been appointed as Keir Starmer's new Chief of Staff, Max Stafford considers what Gray will bring to the Opposition, ACOBA, and Labour's transition to government.
The former Cabinet minister, Oliver Letwin, once remarked, 'it took me precisely two years before I realised who it is that runs Britain ... unless she agrees, things just don't happen'.
He was talking about Sue Gray. The former Head of Ethics and Propriety at the Cabinet Office, she is now better known as the author of the official report into the 'Partygate' scandal. Her appointment, on 2 March 2023, to what is a senior party-political role in the Leader of the Opposition's office (LOTO) has surprised many. But why has Starmer chosen her and what happens next?
When - in December 2022 - I wrote about Keir Starmer's search for a new Chief of Staff, I noted that there was a logic to choosing a (current or former) civil servant. Seeking a candidate from that particular talent-pool makes sense. The two-longest serving Chiefs -#] of those who made it to Downing Street - to date, Jonathan Powell and Ed Llewellyn, were both former civil servants/diplomats (see below). They knew how government worked, had good prior connections with the Civil Service, and were used to running teams. Gray - who was most recently the Second Permanent Secretary in a large department - clearly has a similar appeal.
As I have previously noted, the role of Downing Street Chief of Staff - which, one assumes, Gray hopes to move on to after the next general election - involves numerous functions, dependent upon a prime minister's preference for how they execute it. The Institute for Government recently summarised them as follows:
However, Gray's appointment indicates what Starmer's main criteria was in seeking his new Chief. He wanted someone to lead on transition efforts. By this, I mean that Starmer seriously believes that he will likely be the next Prime Minister and, in light of that, has sought out someone who, to echo Letwin, has previously been involved in 'running Britain'.
Consider when Tony Blair entered Downing Street in 1997. Blair and most of his ministers had never been in government before. Over time, Powell played a key role in matching Blair's desire for public service reforms with the Civil Service's ability to deliver them. In his 2010 book, Powell has made clear that this was not an easy process and sometimes led to conflict with cabinet secretaries and other senior officials. The same challenge faces Starmer - with another blog from the Mile End Institute outlining his need to undertake a strategic 'audit' of how to translate the 2024 manifesto into a brief for government departments. From this perspective, hiring a civil servant who was previously speculated about being a candidate for Cabinet Secretary makes considerable sense.
However, one key hurdle to Gray's appointment remains - aside from the inevitable cries of 'foul play' arising from the Tory benches. This is the need to satisfy the vetting process of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA). This committee polices the appointments those recently leaving government service can undertake, with a view to avoiding or mitigating conflicts of interest. Given that approval is not a 'gimme' and that any approval could be subject to conditions - such as which decisions Gray would be prohibited from participating in within government - LOTO must know that they have taken a big gamble. It could yet backfire.
Starmer has now afforded himself the prospect of a widely-respected Whitehall operator joining his team, with around a year to go to the general election. With polls continuing to show a substantial Labour lead, bringing in more people with government experience is a logical strategy. Notwithstanding the potential for ACOBA to unstick this work, Gray's appointment indicates that Starmer 'gets it' when thinking about how he transitions from opposition to government.
Dr Max Stafford is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Mile End Institute and a Fellow of Advance HE. He is currently writing a book examining mayors as political leaders, and another examining the changing role of the Downing Street Chief of Staff.