Sue Gray handed peerage months after being sacked by Keir Starmer

Sue Gray has been handed a peerage by Sir Keir Starmer, Downing Street confirmed on Friday.

The prime minister’s former chief of staff, who was responsible for the Partygate investigation that helped topple Boris Johnson’s government, will become a life peer.

It comes just months after she was sacked following a brutal power struggle at the heart of Sir Keir’s Downing Street operation between Ms Gray and Morgan McSweeney, who has now taken her job.

After less than three months in office, the loss of Ms Gray – who he personally recruited to ensure he could drive through his policies in Whitehall once in power – was a major blow for Sir Keir.

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It followed weeks of infighting, which began almost immediately after Labour’s election win, as well as the revelation she was being paid more than the prime minister, receiving a £170,000 salary.

Offering her resignation in October, Ms Gray said she had become a “distraction” from the PM’s work, citing “intense commentary” around her position.

She was appointed Sir Keir’s envoy for nations and regions, but humiliated the PM by announcing a month later that she had turned down the offer.

Ms Gray was one of 30 Labour peers appointed by Sir Keir on Friday, with other high-profile names including former shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire, who lost her seat to Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer in July.

Luciana Berger, who quit the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn amid concerns about antisemitism, before rejoining last February, was also awarded a peerage.

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There are also six nominations from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, including former deputy PM Therese Coffey, as well as former housing minister Rachel Maclean.

There are two nominations from the Liberal Democrats.

Ms Gray first made headlines as the investigator of lockdown-flouting parties in Mr Johnson’s government, with civil service impartiality later thrown into question amid Tory criticism of her move to quit the Cabinet Office and join Labour as Sir Keir’s chief of staff.

The Whitehall veteran continued to feature in the news after taking on the party political job, with leaked disclosures revealing the 67-year-old earned more than her boss, and reports of a power struggle within Downing Street between her and other aides, including Mr McSweeney.

Thrust into the limelight when she took over the probe into Covid rule-breaking at No 10 in 2021, Ms Gray went from influential but little-known arbiter of conduct in government to a household name within months.

She stepped in to lead the investigation after then-cabinet secretary Simon Case – her boss – recused himself following allegations that his own office held a Christmas event during a lockdown.

Her report in May 2022 proved to be a bombshell, detailing events at which officials drank so much they were sick, sang karaoke, became involved in altercations and abused security and cleaning staff at a time when millions of people across the country were unable to see friends and family.

She criticised “failures of leadership and judgment” in No 10 and said “the senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility”.

Six weeks later, Mr Johnson was forced out of office by his own cabinet and Conservative MPs.