Who is Sue Gray? Partygate investigator turned potential Labour chief of staff

‘Waiting for Sue Gray’ became something of a mantra for many politicians towards the end of Boris Johnson’s time in the top job.

The Telegraph has reported that an update into a review of her departure will be published soon and will detail ‘secret talks’ between her and the Labour leader’s team during her time working with the department’s Propriety and Ethics Team (PET).

At the time, PET was advising MPs on the privileges committee investigating Mr Johnson.

James Cleverly, Foreign Secretary, told Sky News: ‘If that is what the report says, I do think Keir Starmer has got some serious questions to answer’ but the Labour leader has said he is ‘confident’ that Sue Gray ‘hasn’t broken any of the rules’.

But just who is Sue Gray, what was she originally investigating, and what did the report say?

Here’s all you need to know.

Who is Sue Gray?

Sue Gray first worked in public service in various government departments including Transport, Health, and the DWP.

Ms Gray took her first job in the Cabinet Office in the late 1990s, after taking a career break where she bought and ran a pub in Newry, Northern Ireland.

She would go on to work as the Director General of Propriety and Ethics from 2012 to 2018 before becoming Second Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office from 2021 to earlier this year – a role that reports to the UK’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case.

Her past experience includes an investigation of senior government minister Damian Green in 2017, which prompted his resignation.

The Guardian report that allies of Sue Gray describe her as facing a ‘political witch-hunt’.

Local elections are due to take place on May 4, but Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer has said, on the campaign trail, people have been more interested in how to pay their bills and the cost of living.

What did the Sue Gray report say?

Among its 60 pages was a critique of ‘senior leaders’ in Government. More details can be read here.

It found that ‘a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did.’

‘Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government,’ the report added, confessing: ‘What happened fell well short’.

The report also detailed previously unreported behaviour from the gatherings in question.

These included:

• An official boasting that they had ‘got away with drinks’ in an email
• Several examples of ‘unacceptable’ treatment of security or cleaning staff occurred
• A staff member was ‘sick’ following heavy alcohol consumption at an event on June 18, 2020
• The same event also involved a ‘minor altercation’ between two staff members.

Photographs of the Prime Minister at two gatherings were also in the report.

Several showed him at a Cabinet Room gathering on his birthday (June 19) in 2020, with several sandwiches, drinks cans and pitchers of orange juice laid out on a central table.

Mr Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak (who can be seen in some of the images) and Carrie Johnson all received Fixed Penalty Notice fines from the Met Police relating to this event.

Previous reports suggest up to 30 people sang the Tory leader happy birthday and presented him with a cake at the event.

You can view Sue Gray’s report in full on the UK Government’s website here.

The 60-page document came out on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Many were expecting the full report months before then.

Police had previously requested that the report had only ‘minimal reference’ to the events to ‘avoid any prejudice’ to its own investigation – so only a 12-page summary of Ms Gray’s key findings was made available to the public in January 2022.

What was Sue Gray’s report investigating?

Sue Gray’s investigation was an internal one rather than an independent inquiry.

It was ordered by Mr Johnson, he set the terms of reference and Ms Gray would have reported back to him – with the understanding that she was to remain impartial.

Ms Gray was asked to look at the nature and purpose of the gatherings, including who went to them – ‘with reference to adherence to the guidance in place at the time’.

It’s worth noting Ms Gray did not have the authority to give out any disciplinary action based on the report.

That would be a matter for the Cabinet Office if it relates to Downing Street staff or the Prime Minister if it relates to ministers.

Boris Johnson would ultimately announce his departure after mass resignations from government posts by Tory MPs following a series of reported scandals.

These included his reported knowledge of alleged previous inappropriate behaviour by former Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher, who resigned from the government after being accused of assaulting two fellow guests at a private members club in London.

Former senior government official, Lord McDonald of Salford, took the unusual step of writing to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner accusing Number 10 of ‘not telling the truth’ about the then-PM’s knowledge.

MORE : Publish your Sue Gray texts, Keir Starmer told

MORE : Boris says it is ‘surreal’ partygate investigator Sue Gray will work for Labour

MORE : Student fined £10,000 for lockdown party ‘can’t bear to think about Partygate’

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