Yesterday saw the quiet departure of civil service spin doctor Ray Tang, previously director of communications at Gove’s DHLUC and before that a key player in the sprawling Cabinet Office press office. Tang rose above the usual hack-shy techniques of civil service spinners by engaging (rather extensively) with journalists – a skillset that caught the eye of none other than former Whitehall enforcer – and now Starmer head honcho – Sue Gray. As PR Week previously noted: ‘Tang will move to DLUHC after working on the comms operation around Sue Gray’s investigation into lockdown parties in Downing Street in 2020 in 2021.” In other words, he was Sue Gray’s personal flak-catcher during her controversial work investigating then Prime Minister…
His strong work for Michael Gove also made an impact in the supposedly politically shy work of Whitehall press offices. So perhaps it was no surprise that a gaggle of Guardianistas, FT hacks and other centrist insiders attended Tang’s leaving drinks at the Barley Mow pub last night. Such events tend to reveal the sources of lobby journalists, who rarely speak to civil servants but report with relish every official leak or briefing they can obtain when they can find one. It takes two to Tang-o…
Sue Gray’s policy of introducing citizens’ assemblies was backtracked on a mere 30 hours after it was first briefed to the press. Gray must have forgotten that we already have a citizens’ assembly known as Parliament. Guido hears Labour campaign manager Morgan McSweeney wasn’t happy at all…
Peter Mandelson weighed in this afternoon on the How To Win An Election podcast with Matt Chorley. Mandelson said: “I mean, I’m sure there’s a lot to be said for citizens’ assemblies, but is that really the voters’ priority in this election year?” Chorley said – “Well according to Sue Gray it is.” Mandelson went in on Gray, adding:
“Or the Labour announcement that we’re suddenly going to reopen the issue of foxhunting, not to scrap the ban, but to tighten it up and to relitigate the whole issue? I mean, these are third or fourth order issues for the public. They’ve got to remain focussed on their strategy and on the key issues which are important to voters.”
That’s a revealing slap down – there will be more tension to come as Labour focuses in on its manifesto and policy lines for the election. When Mandelson is coming out with robust statements like these it is clear Labour HQ is seeing clans jostle for influence and a weakness of communication. Trouble in paradise…
Liam Conlon, son of Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray, has won the selection for Labour in ultra-marginal Beckenham & Penge. This won’t come as a surprise for anyone following the nepo baby’s attempts to get into Parliament over the last year. The seat is currently held by retiring MP Colonel Bob Stewart…
Conlon pipped Medical Aid for Palestinians CEO and vociferously anti-Israel Melanie Ward to the selection. Michael Crick reports the Gray campaign did particuarly well among postal and online votes. Conlon’s got a history of “boasting” about his mother’s role in Partygate in a bid to unseat Boris. Guido spotted his ambitions a mile off…
The Cabinet Office probe into Sue Gray’s appointment as Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff has found Gray broke the Civil Service code by negotiating with Labour in October of last year. Cabinet Office Minister Jeremy Quin has published a written statement confirming the breach:
“Given the exceptional nature of this case and the previous commitment by ministers to update the House, I can now confirm that the Cabinet Office process looking into the circumstances leading up to Ms Gray’s resignation has been concluded. As part of the process, Ms Gray was given the opportunity to make representations but chose not to do so. This process, led by the Civil Service, found that the Civil Service Code was prima facie broken as a result of the undeclared contact between Ms Gray and the Leader of the Opposition.”
“Mr. Rules” Keir Starmer is nonetheless appointing her anyway, after ACoBA gave her the green light to join Labour in time for party conference in September. Guido’s old enough to remember when she was “p*ssed off” that we were reporting she was a “Labour person”…
Read Quin’s full statement below:
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACoBA) have published their letter clearing Sue Gray to become Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, recommending only a six-month sabbatical from the last day of her employment in the Civil Service, which was in March. She will, as expected, be free to join Labour from September…
ACoBA add they have found “no evidence” her impartiality was compromised by applying for this job, and she first entered negotiations in October 2022 as per Matthew Doyle’s claims. They continue it is “quite normal for individuals to discuss the possibility of new roles before leaving office“. Is it “quite normal” to be working for the government, involved at “ministerial-level” discussions, while spending months negotiating with their opposition?
It’s been just over a year since Sue Gray was briefing The Times how “very p*ssed off” she was with Guido for insinuating she was Labour leaning. What a difference a year makes…
Read ACoBA’s full letter below:
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACoBA) has reportedly cleared Sue Gray to begin working as Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff in the autumn. Despite the Cabinet Office recommending a year-long ban with a further six month block on contacting the government, The Times reports she’s been handed just six months’ gardening leave from the point of quitting earlier this year. She’ll be free to join Labour well in advance of the election and in time for Labour Party Conference. Starmer won’t be waiting for Sue Gray quite as long as expected…
This is of course despite the fact she was in contact with Labour while still in post as a civil servant, and while still involved in the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Ethics team. Six months from the point of leaving, given her involvement in top-level government discussions, is generous to say the least…
