The Coup Against Sue Gray

The horse that draws the chariot has been changed

The coup against Sue Gray has, without the King’s intervention, effectively given the United Kingdom a new Prime Minister. Sir Keir Starmer still has the formal title, residence and appurtenances, but the real power now lies with the unassailable Morgan McSweeney, his new Chief of Staff.

As a Minister I first met Sue Gray on the stairs of the Cabinet Office. As she had been in all the papers because of her inquiry into Boris Johnson, I knew who she was even though we had not met and, as a good civil servant, she knew the Ministers in her Department. However, not being sure of the correct etiquette between two people who know who the other is, but have not been introduced, I merely smiled in acknowledgement and waited for her to pass, as I have always understood it is bad manners to cross on the stairs.