Keir Starmer poised to withdraw Sue Gray job offer

Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Gray has decided not to take up the post of nation and regions envoy after it became clear the prime minister was planning to withdraw his offer, the Guardian understands.

Sources said Gray, who was on a “short break” between roles after standing down almost six weeks ago, had been warned the prime minister was likely to rescind the job offer before she had even taken it up.

Downing Street insiders had grown concerned about the media attention that would follow Gray, which could have made it harder for her to carry out the role. They were also unclear about what exactly the job would entail.

Sources told the Guardian that Starmer, who is in Baku at the Cop29 summit, was expected to give Gray a peerage. This would give her the freedom to promote issues that were important to her – including devolution – from the House of Lords.

One government source said Gray had been told Starmer planned to rescind his offer. “The way some people are behaving towards her is really horrible.”

Allies of the former senior civil servant had previously told the Guardian she had questions over how much power she would actually have as envoy, and whether she would have sufficient access to the prime minister to do the job.

However, with speculation swirling over her position, allies of Gray admitted on Tuesday that she had jumped before she was pushed after weeks of prevaricating over the role.

“Sue has taken a decision not to take the role. She’s going to focus on other things,” one said. “She’s taken time to think about it properly, talking to stakeholders, but ultimately she’s decided she doesn’t want to do it.”

Gray resigned from her role as Starmer’s chief of staff almost six weeks ago, after finding herself at the centre of a political storm. Starmer shook up his entire top team after facing intense pressure to put an end to the hostile briefings that had at times overshadowed his first 100 days in office.

The senior official, who had spent decades as a civil servant and became a household name after Boris Johnson asked her to investigate the Partygate scandal, was replaced by Morgan McSweeney, who masterminded Labour’s general election victory, and with whom she sometimes found herself at odds in government.

Downing Street announced at the same time that Gray would take on a new government role as the prime minister’s envoy for the regions and nations. Yet she failed to attend Starmer’s inaugural gathering of the council of nations and regions, intended to reset relationships and boost growth in every part of the UK.

After her appointment, Gray said she was standing down as chief of staff because it had “become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government’s vital work of change”.

In a statement, she added: “I am pleased to have accepted a new role as the prime minister’s envoy for the regions and nations. After leading the Labour party’s preparation for government and kickstarting work on our programme for change, I am looking forward to drawing on my experience to support the prime minister and the cabinet to help deliver the government’s objectives across the nations and regions of the UK.”