Another day, another story about Sue Gray. Today the BBC reports the details of Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff’s salary. Gray is paid the handsome sum of £170,000 a year – £3,000 more than her boss, the prime minister. She therefore earns more than any cabinet minister or Tory predecessor in the role. In a sign of how some in Whitehall feel about her pay, a source tells the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason:
It was suggested that she might want to go for a few thousand pounds less than the prime minister to avoid this very story. She declined.
A Cabinet Office spokesman responds:
It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay. Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials, not political appointees.
Now one could say this is a ‘Westminster bubble’ story – certainly the type that Keir Starmer takes issue with. The Labour leader finds a focus on the inner workings of staffing or personality politics to be a distraction from the job he and his party were elected to do. What’s more, Gray being paid 3k more than Starmer while intriguing is unlikely to be the thing that motivates voters at the ballot box.
Instead, the more telling aspect is that the story fits a pattern – a series of apparent briefings about Gray that appear to come from her own side. Others so far include her alleged efforts to push for funding for Casement Park, the Belfast stadium. She was accused of ‘personally dominating’ the talks by colleagues.
There’s discomfort over certain civil service hires Gray might want to bring in – when other Labour staffers have different ideas on who would be best. Then there’s the ongoing complaints from special advisers over their pay and contracts – some have joined a union in a bid to take a stand against what they see as unfair low pay offers. This also comes after regular reports of friction between Gray and Starmer’s senior adviser and strategist Morgan McSweeney (however, allies on both sides suggest this is all a bit overdone).
Still, taken as a whole, the level of briefing going on does not suggest that Downing Street is a particularly happy ship or harmonious place to work. Of course, No. 10 always has the potential to be a high-stress workplace given the job everyone has to do. But the briefings and stories so far give the strong impression of a power struggle. Whoever decided to leak Gray’s salary at a time when she was being criticised for having higher pay than others (No. 10 say this is not to do with her) was hardly trying to be helpful. It’s the type of story that will just further enrage critics who believe she had too much power to begin with.
The role of chief of staff is one where management of more junior colleagues is key – even if there are other more serious issues to deal with. As things stand, Gray risks becoming a distraction for the government. Once an aide becomes the story it is a hard place to come back from. Clearly Starmer values her greatly – she accompanied him to the States last week. She also retains admirers in the Labour party, and brings valuable Whitehall experience. But increasingly it seems as though Starmer is going to have to come up with a method to unite his team, otherwise he faces a damaging drip drip of briefings for months to come.
Hear Katy’s analysis on Coffee House Shots:
Comments