Sue Gray (civil servant)

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Sue Gray
Sue Gray (civil servant).png
Cabinet Office Second Permanent Secretary
Assumed office
24 May 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
MinisterMichael Gove
Steve Barclay
Preceded byJames Bowler
Personal details
Born1957 or 1958 (age 63–64)[1]
North London, England[2]
NationalityBritish
Spouse(s)Bill Conlon[2]
OccupationCivil servant
Websitegov.uk/government/people/sue-gray

Susan Gray (born 1957 or 1958)[1] is a British civil servant who in May 2021 became Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, reporting to the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Early life and background[]

Born in north London, Gray is the daughter of Irish immigrants who moved to Tottenham in the early 1950s; her father was a furniture salesman and her mother a barmaid. She studied at a Catholic state school. Following her father's sudden death in 1975, Gray abandoned her plan of going to university and joined the Civil Service straight from school.[2][3] She took a career break in the late 1980s, described by journalist Sam McBride as "strikingly unorthodox",[4] when she ran the Cove Bar, a pub in Newry, a border town in Northern Ireland, during The Troubles, with her husband Bill Conlon, a country singer from Portaferry, County Down.[5][6] Peter Caldwell, a former special adviser to several ministers, said it had been speculated Gray was a spy at this time, though Gray denied it.[3] The family returned to London in 1987. She has family connections to Northern Ireland.[7]

Career[]

Cabinet Office[]

She joined the Cabinet Office in the late 1990s,[8] after previous postings to health, transport, and work and pensions.[9] She later served in the Cabinet Office as the director-general of the propriety and ethics team (2012–2018) and head of the Private Offices Group under the Cabinet Secretary.[8] In her role overseeing ministerial offices and ethics in government, Gray was described as "the woman who runs the country".[10][11] In 2011 she incorrectly advised Michael Gove that conducting government business via private email accounts would make it exempt from transparency laws.[12] In 2012 she ran the Plebgate inquiry inside the Cabinet Office,[13] the reform of non-departmental public bodies,[14] and the investigation into allegations against Damian Green MP relating to his use of computers intended for work purposes;[13][15][16] Green was subsequently fired from his cabinet position.[17]

In January 2018, the Northern Ireland Executive announced that Gray would transfer to the Northern Ireland Civil Service as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive from May 2018.[9][18] In April 2018, it was announced that Gray would be replaced at the Cabinet Office by Helen MacNamara.[19] In 2020, Gray failed to be appointed as the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, and in a subsequent interview with the BBC said: "I suspect people may have thought that I perhaps was too much of a challenger, or a disrupter. I am both..."[5] In May 2021 Gray returned to Whitehall to become the Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office. She reported initially to Michael Gove, who was replaced as Cabinet Office minister in September 2021 by Steve Barclay, and is in charge of policy on the Union and the constitution.[1][8]

Following press reports about "Partygate" in December 2021, Gray took over the investigation into alleged gatherings on government premises during COVID restrictions. The probe was initially led by Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, until he recused himself after it became known that a Christmas 2020 event had been held in his own office.[20] Whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson knew about and participated in the Downing Street gatherings is part of the investigation.[21][22] Gray's initial findings were published on 31 January 2022.[23] In the report, Gray condemned "a serious failure" in the standards of leadership, and also stated that a string of gatherings were "difficult to justify" while millions were unable to meet their friends and relatives.[24]

Reputation[]

Gray has been portrayed as relatively unknown but highly influential,[25] and has been described as "an enigma".[6] A 2015 profile published by the BBC noted she was "notorious... for her determination not to leave a document trail", had advised special advisers how to destroy emails through "double-deletion" and made at least six interventions "to tell departments to fight disclosures under the Freedom of Information Act".[12][26] She was described by former prime minister Gordon Brown, in his memoir, as someone who could be counted on for "wise advice when – as all too regularly happened – mini-crises and crises befell".[17] Rajeev Syal in The Guardian described her as "an uncompromising operator".[27] Political journalist Andrew Gimson wrote: "All power to the Civil Service is her modus operandi. She owes her allegiance to the permanent government and the deep state."[7] Former cabinet minister Oliver Letwin wrote of her: "Unless she agrees, things just don’t happen. Cabinet reshuffles, departmental reorganizations, the whole lot — it's all down to Sue Gray".[28]

Offices held[]

Government offices
New title
Job re-graded
 Director General,
Propriety and Ethics
2012–2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
David Sterling
 Permanent Secretary,
Department of Finance,
Northern Ireland Executive
2018–2021 		Succeeded by
Colum Boyle
Preceded by Second Permanent Secretary,
Cabinet Office
2021– 		Incumbent

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Wright, Oliver; Maguire, Patrick; Zeffman, Henry (8 April 2021). "Boris Johnson brings in 'sleaze-buster' Sue Gray to tackle threat to the Union". The Times. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Webber, Esther; Pogatchnik, Shawn (21 January 2022). "Who is Sue Gray? The enforcer who ran a pub and married a country singer". The Times. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b Wright, Oliver; Zeffman, Henry (31 January 2022). "Who is Sue Gray? The Whitehall insider ruling on Boris Johnson's parties". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 31 January 2022. According to Peter Cardwell, a former special adviser to four cabinet ministers, some speculated that she was a spy but this is something Gray has always categorically denied.
  4. ^ "'Secretive' top Whitehall official in surprise move to Belfast". inews.co.uk. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Sue Gray: Civil servant seen as 'too challenging' for top job". BBC News. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b Gordon, Gareth (1 February 2018). "Sue Gray, NI's 'enigmatic' senior civil servant". BBC News.
  7. ^ a b "NI-bound... the steely enforcer of Whitehall". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Sue Gray - GOV.UK". gov.uk.
  9. ^ a b "Civil service ethics chief Sue Gray moves to Northern Ireland finance post". Civil Service World. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  10. ^ Harper, Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Tom (19 November 2017). "'Deputy God' Sue Gray rules on Damian Green's fate". The Sunday Times.
  11. ^ "Civil servant dubbed 'most powerful woman in Britain' drafted to help save the union". Nation.Cymru. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  12. ^ a b Cook, Chris (10 July 2015). "A powerful person who stays hidden". BBC News.
  13. ^ a b Proctor, Kate (21 December 2017). "Sue Gray: Who is the woman at the helm of the Damian Green inquiry?". Evening Standard.
  14. ^ Carr, Simon (2 February 2012). "The Sketch: Meet silent executioner from the Cabinet Office". The Independent.
  15. ^ Coates, Sam (11 November 2017). "Sue Gray, the ethics chief in Green case, faced removal before election". The Times.
  16. ^ Weaver, Matthew (20 December 2017). "Who's who in the Damian Green inquiry". The Guardian.
  17. ^ a b "Sue Gray: who is official tasked with investigating No 10 party claims?". The Guardian. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  18. ^ "New Permanent Secretary roles announced". The Executive Office. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  19. ^ "New Director General of the Propriety and Ethics Team: Helen MacNamara". GOV.UK (Press release). Cabinet Office. 18 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Top civil servant Simon Case quits No 10 party probe amid rule breach claims". BBC News. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  21. ^ Merrick, Rob (17 January 2022). "Cummings says PM was told No 10 party 'broke the rules' but said it should go ahead". The Independent. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  22. ^ Nellan, Catherine (19 January 2021). "Tory MPs look to Sue Gray partygate report for 'justification' for no-confidence letters in Boris Johnson". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Johnson promises No 10 shake-up after Gray finds failures", BBC News, 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022
  24. ^ Picheta, Rob; Upright, Ed (31 January 2022). "Boris Johnson condemned over 'failures of leadership' in 'Partygate' report". CNN. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Profile: Sue Gray, civil servant – and "the most powerful woman in Britain"". Conservative Home.
  26. ^ "Sue Gray: Who is the civil servant investigating Downing Street lockdown parties?". BBC News. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  27. ^ Syal, Rajeev (13 January 2022). "Sue Gray: head of No 10 party inquiry is an uncompromising operator". The Guardian.
  28. ^ Heath, Ryan (24 January 2022). "The time Sue Gray fired me". Politico. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

External links[]

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