'Great integrity': Labour defends appointment of ‘highly respected’ partygate investigator Sue Gray amid backlash

4 March 2023, 09:21 | Updated: 4 March 2023, 14:38

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

The Labour Party has defended the appointment of partygate's lead investigator and former civil servant Sue Gray as Keir Starmer's new chief of staff.

Ms Gray's appointment shows Partygate was a "deliberate and manufactured plot" to get rid of Boris Johnson, an ally of the former Prime Minister has said.

Mr Johnson himself said it was "surreal" to discover that the Committee will rely on evidence "culled and orchestrated by Sue Gray".

But the Labour Party's chairwoman Anneliese Dodds has defended the appointment, which is yet to be approved by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), saying she has "great integrity".

Speaking to LBC's Andrew Castle, Ms Dodds said: "I’ll be very clear actually - Sue Gray is a woman of great integrity. She’s served under governments of different stripes.

“She’s served under ministers from different political parties, so a highly respected civil servant and I’m absolutely delighted that she’s going to be joining Labour’s team”.

Annaliese Dodds Labour MP says she's 'delighted'

Read More: 'I believe these events were within the rules', says Boris as MPs claim Covid breaches would have been 'obvious'

Read More: Sue Gray joining Labour shows Partygate was 'deliberate and manufactured plot', Boris Johnson ally claims

The former prime minister's allies have argued that the appointment of Ms Grey by Sir Keir Starmer could undermine the Privileges Committee inquiry, which has found Mr Johnson may have misled the House of Commons over partygate.

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries said that Ms Gray's evidence can no longer be relied upon in "any meaningful" until it is established how long she has had a "personal relationship with Keir Starmer."

"It is very hard to see how Sue has not breached the civil service code," she added.

But Ms Dodds told Andrew Castle: "I think the public perception will not be changed. Why? Because the evidence is clear for everyone to see.

"People see the photos that were in that report. They also see of course the police investigation. It was totally clear that Boris Johnson had broken the law."

Ms Gray rose to prominence after being appointed the chief investigator into the partygate scandal, publishing a report that found a "failure of leadership and judgement" during Mr Johnson's time as prime minister.

She will be replacing Sam White, who served as the Labour Party's chief of staff for around one year. It is understood Sir Keir had been looking for someone with significant experience working with government officials at the top level.

It comes after Mr Johnson said he believes Partygate events were "within the rules" - despite a Commons committee saying evidence suggested Covid rule breaches would have been "obvious" to him at the time.