Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff has described working inside Downing Street as “definitely unbearable” in her first interview following her resignation.
Baroness Sue Gray outlined how internal briefing disputes were “very, very difficult” and created anxieties that colleagues were secretly taping “everything you say”.
The peer, who served as the top adviser in the Labour administration prior to leaving in 2024, admitted feeling “disappointed” that Sir Keir failed to act further against negative leaks to journalists.
She gave the interview to Ed Balls on the Political Currency podcast, marking her first public comments since stepping down as chief of staff almost two years ago.
Asked about the briefings against her, she said they had started while Labour was in opposition, where she would “read about things that I would have said or not said”, which continued on into government.
“I had always taken a view as a civil servant and actually as a special adviser that you know you should be able to speak freely in rooms,” she said.
“And I couldn’t recall those sort of discussions being briefed out.
“And yet here I found myself, you know, stories about supposedly trying to move Morgan McSweeney to the back of the building.
“Actually, that was a genuine, ‘I can’t believe so many of you are going to sit in this small room, let’s find a better room for you’.”
She continued: “It just got to the point where you know everything you say, you feel is somebody is recording it.”
Asked whether Sir Keir was willing to act on her concerns, she said: “I talked to him a couple of times about it, and I don’t really want to disclose individual conversations, but I was disappointed that not more was done because I think it could have been done.”
Sir Keir’s government has faced criticism from Labour members, including the party’s deputy leader Lucy Powell, who described a “boys club” culture in No 10, with a pattern of “anonymous nasty briefings” – particularly against women.
“It was definitely unbearable, particularly for me,” Lady Gray said. “And I would say that none of that briefing came from me.
“I think it was very difficult, and it was just affecting me and my life.
“I was getting into the office very early in the morning. I was leaving late to avoid…. It was very, very, very difficult period.”
Asked about the lack of positive vision in the early days of the Labour government and how much was her responsibility, she said: “I think ultimately, you have a leader of the party, you have a prime minister, leader of the opposition. You have to set your vision, your agenda, and that is definitely what everybody is looking for.”
Lady Gray went from being an influential but little-known arbiter of conduct in the civil service to a household name when she took on the probe into Covid rule-breaking at Boris Johnson’s Number 10 in 2021.
Impartiality was later called into question amid criticism of her move to quit the Cabinet Office after decades in Whitehall and join Labour as Sir Keir’s chief of staff.
After weeks of negative briefings, she announced her resignation in a statement citing concerns that she was “becoming a distraction” to the work of government.
Following her departure, Lady Gray was among 30 new Labour peers announced last December.
