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.
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 it has emerged the former civil servant will not make an appearance at the first summit between the Government and leaders from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the English regions, which is being held in Edinburgh on Friday.
Pat McFadden, a Cabinet Office minister, told broadcasters she had “been through quite a lot” in recent weeks, following reports of turmoil at the heart of Sir Keir’s No 10.
Asked by Sky News 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.
“I worked with her, she is a great colleague. She is taking a short break now and I think we should allow her the time in privacy to do that.”
He later told LBC: “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.”
Asked how long Ms Gray’s break would be, Mr McFadden said: “I don’t think it will be long, but let’s give her a bit of space and privacy after somebody who, as I said, can’t speak up for themselves, finding themselves on the front pages of the newspapers in a way that she has not wanted to be.”
Mr McFadden would not disclose if Ms Gray would continue being paid while she was taking time away from work.
He would also not be drawn into addressing reports that Ms Gray may be negotiating severance pay from her Downing Street role during her hiatus from Government.
“It wouldn’t be right for me to go into anybody’s terms and conditions, HR issues, things like that. So I couldn’t comment on that,” he told Times Radio.
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.
“The whole point of the reset is that we will be working much more closely and collaboratively with both devolved governments and with mayors,” the spokeswoman said.
“So, you can expect to see – as you already have – much more continued close engagement and the new envoy will play a huge role in that.”
She refused to “add to” the commentary surrounding Ms Gray’s position, which the former senior civil servant cited in a statement announcing her resignation on Sunday.
Speaking to broadcasters following the meeting of the Council of Nations and Regions on Friday, the Prime Minister also repeatedly declined to answer questions about Ms Gray.
Asked whether it was “embarrassing” that she was not present, and whether he would approve a severance payment for her, Sir Keir spoke about the “important meeting” that had just taken place.
The Cabinet Office is expected to set out details of Ms Gray’s role shortly, after mounting questions over the details of the job.
