Sue Gray was not involved in turning Partygate evidence into the privilege committee’s inquiry into Boris Johnson while she was in talks with Labor about a job, multiple sources have said.
Johnson’s allies are furious that Gray is going to work for Keir Starmer, the Labor leader, as chief of staff, after the top official was in charge of the report on Partygate published last May.
They have used Gray’s move to Labour to challenge the privilege committee’s investigation of Johnson, claiming that it relies heavily on evidence collected by Gray.
Ahead of Johnson’s appearance before the committee on Wednesday, allies of the former prime minister claimed Gray had been “advising” what evidence might be revealed for the inquiry while she was in talks with Labour.
However, Whitehall sources said the process was handled by the Cabinet Office’s ethics and decorum team, and Gray returned to her post as second permanent secretary for constitutional affairs in May last year.
Labor sources did not comment on the claims that Gray had been in talks with the party since November last year. However, they said Gray was not involved in advising on evidence for the privileges committee, which was part of a separate process within the Cabinet Office from the original collection of material for the report.
However, some Conservative MPs said Gray’s contact with Labor needed to be investigated.
Priti Patel, former Home Secretary and Johnson ally, told the Daily Mail: “It now turns out that Sue Gray may have been in contact with Labor during the privileges committee process.
“This is an alarming development that the committee must take into account. We will need precise answers as to whether and when Labor had a hand in this, and what was the extent of the contacts.”
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The privileges committee, which is investigating whether Johnson misled Parliament about the party gate scandal, he first asked for evidence last summer. However, this was not fully handed over by the government until Rishi Sunak came to power in November last year.
The committee, made up of four Conservative, two Labor and one Scottish National Party MPs, disputes the claim that its inquiry is based on the Gray report. He has received material such as photos and WhatsApp messages from the government, and has taken his own evidence from witnesses, who do not include Gray.
