Is Sue Gray really a coup for Keir?

Well, there we are then. Less than 24 hours after reports emerged that Sue Gray could be Keir Starmer’s next chief of staff, the lady herself has confirmed the story by resigning from the civil service. The Partygate investigator will however have to wait at least three months before she can start working for Labour, as per government guidelines. And, deliciously, she will also have to get final approval from, er, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Will he hold the process up?

Timings aside, it seems it is a fairly extraordinary decision for a senior civil servant to make. How, frankly, are ministers expected to trust their mandarins if they are going to defect to the Opposition? ‘We’re a joke’ said one despairing official to Steerpike, ‘I’ve completely lost respect for her.’

Gray’s decision to move into party politics throws a sharp relief on her Partygate inquiry, which will now be seen in a much more partisan light.