Sue Gray should not work for Keir Starmer until next year, says ex-watchdog

Peter Riddell says it would reassure senior ministers officials won’t be ‘here today, gone tomorrow’

The civil servant who oversaw the Partygate inquiry should not be allowed to work for Labour until next year, a former commissioner for public appointments has said.

The Sue Gray report into gatherings at Downing Street during the Covid pandemic helped seal Boris Johnson’s fate and eventually saw him resign as prime minister.

So the news earlier this year that she was leaving her civil service role to work as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff prompted outrage among allies of the former prime minister.