Another day, another Sue Gray-related drama. Now Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff has come under fire over yet another prospective government appointment. It transpires that Gray is reportedly in favour of making Daniel Gieve, a senior civil servant who worked alongside her at the Cabinet Office, Starmer’s principal private secretary – a top job second only in constitutional importance to that of the Cabinet Secretary. Handy having friends in high places, eh?
But throwing Gieve’s name into the mix has caused unease in Downing Street. Some have suggested Gray is set on imposing her favourite candidate, while others worry about the civil servant’s close ties to senior Tories. Currently Gieve runs the Office for Investment, a Rishi Sunak venture that provides ‘concierge-style support’ to firms and investors. During the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition years, Gieve was the Cabinet Office minister focusing on David Cameron’s civil service reforms, working closely with Gray at the time. Certainly the Cabinet Office has not denied that Gray led the recruitment process, but dismissed the idea that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case had any problem with that. How curious…
It’s only the latest issue in a series of rows over government appointments, with the Times reporting that Labour ministers have privately dubbed the whole palaver ‘chaotic’. Over the last few weeks, Sir Keir’s administration has faced accusations of cronyism after awareness spread that former Labour donors and aides were swooping into top civil service roles – and Gray has frequently found herself in the line of fire as a result. Take, for example, when ex-Labour Together campaigner Jess Sargeant bagged a deputy director role with the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Constitution group. Shadow paymaster general John Glen was quick to accuse Starmer’s chief of staff of ‘personally’ blocking special adviser appointments before suggesting this may have forced ministers to ‘circumvent’ rules and hire would-be SpAds to civil service roles. Crikey.
While the Mail on Sunday reported fears that Gray ‘thinks she runs the country’, Starmer has always been fast to defend his top staffer from similar charges in the past. But no matter how fervently Sir Keir slams whisperings about Gray as ‘nonsense’, it doesn’t look like these concerns are going away anytime soon…
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