Sue Gray has described her experience working as Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street chief of staff as “unbearable”, saying that internal briefings and mistrust affected both her work and her personal life.
Gray made the comments during a recorded interview with former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls for the Political Currency podcast. It was her first substantial public account of her departure from No 10.
Gray describes breakdown of trust
Gray said the atmosphere had become “definitely unbearable, particularly for me”. She denied being responsible for hostile briefings and described the period as extremely difficult.
She said conversations and decisions inside Downing Street repeatedly appeared in media reports, leaving her feeling that somebody could be recording what she said.
That was Gray’s description of how the environment felt to her. She did not present evidence that her conversations had actually been recorded, and there has been no independent confirmation that this occurred.
Gray said she raised her concerns with Starmer on more than one occasion but was disappointed that further action was not taken. She declined to disclose the details of their private conversations.
Dispute over Labour’s preparation for government
Gray joined Starmer’s opposition team in 2023 and was tasked with helping Labour prepare for a possible transition into government. She subsequently became Downing Street chief of staff after Labour’s 2024 general election victory, but left the role in October of that year.
Her short tenure was accompanied by repeated reports of disagreements involving senior advisers, particularly Morgan McSweeney, who replaced her as chief of staff.
Gray rejected suggestions that she had failed to prepare Labour adequately for office. She argued that a government operation required people with greater experience in senior communications, policy and strategic roles.
She also said leadership and vision had to come from the prime minister, contrasting Starmer’s operation with Andy Burnham’s administration. Gray said Burnham had a clearer view of what he wanted to accomplish.
Different accounts of events
Some former Downing Street colleagues have disputed elements of Gray’s account in comments reported by the media. They have rejected suggestions of an exclusionary culture and argued that Gray contributed to the atmosphere of suspicion inside the operation.
Those competing accounts cannot be independently resolved from the public evidence. What is now established is that Gray herself considered the working environment unbearable and believed internal briefing had made it impossible for her to operate effectively.
The interview offers a rare on-the-record account of the tensions that affected the opening months of Starmer’s government. It also adds to the wider debate about whether Labour’s transition from opposition to government suffered from unclear authority and rivalry among senior advisers.