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Will Sue Gray get a peerage?

(Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Sue Gray may no longer be Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff but that doesn’t mean she isn’t still making headlines. Now it transpires that the Prime Minister is planning to award a peerage to the former civil servant, despite the rather negative press attention Gray managed to garner while in the top job. How very interesting…

According to the Financial Times, Starmer has grand plans to award the former mandarin with a seat in the House of Lords – while a number of other ex-MPs who allowed fresh candidates to stand in the July election are also expected to make Sir Keir’s ‘political’ list of peerages.

Gray had a rather checkered time in No. 10, with a number of negative briefings suggesting that the ex-civil servant did not particularly get on with the rest of Starmer’s top team. The former Partygate investigator was said to have ruffled feathers with Labour’s campaign guru Morgan McSweeney and their reported power struggle got tongues wagging after stories emerged about the ex-civil servant blocking appointments to the new government in a swipe at McSweeney’s allies.

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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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