Sue Gray resigned as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff following a row over pay (Image: Getty)
Sue Gray has “not enjoyed” being in the public eye and this led to her decision to take a break from Government, a senior Cabinet minister has said.
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The top Labour aide resigned over the weekend as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and will take up a new role as an envoy to the “nations and regions” of the UK.
But the former civil servant did not make an appearance at the first summit between the Government and leaders from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the English regions in Edinburgh today.
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Pat McFadden, a Cabinet Office minister, said the ex Partygate investigator had “been through quite a lot” in recent weeks, following reports of turmoil at the heart of Sir Keir’s No 10.
Asked why she would not be attending the summit of UK regional and national leaders, Mr McFadden – the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – said: “Sue has been through quite a lot in the last few weeks.”
In a second interview yesterday (FRI), he added: “I know that she has not enjoyed being a figure in the public eye unlike me, who can come on your programme and speak for myself and answer any of your questions.
“As an official, she can’t do that. Given what she has been through in the last few weeks, she has decided to take a bit of downtime, take a bit of a break, and I quite understand why.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir also repeatedly dodged questions on the absence of Ms Gray.
Asked whether he was embarrassed she had not been at the gathering, which is key to her new role, the Prime Minister said: “We’ve just had the first meeting of the Council of Nations and Regions.
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“I’ve had every First Minister here, the Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, and all the mayors from across England.
“We’ve had a really constructive discussion about economic growth, about jobs, about investment, and even today, we’ve had a further announcement of ￡24 billion investment in the United Kingdom.
“I set out when we won that election, to change the country for the better, to stabilize the economy, and these investments that are coming in… they’re a drumbeat into our Investment Summit.”
Asked whether he would approve Ms Gray’s severance pay, the Prime Minister repeated that “we’ve had a really important meeting today”.
Meanwhile Mr McFadden would not disclose if Ms Gray would continue being paid while she was taking time away from work.
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Downing Street refused to say why Ms Gray is taking the break from work, with a No 10 spokeswoman saying it was “not routine for us to give a running commentary on individual members of staff”.
No 10 insisted the Friday gathering of the Council of Nations and Regions was “by no means the extent of our engagement” and Ms Gray would play a “huge role” going forward.