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On Tuesday, the final chapter of the protracted Sue Gray saga was penned, fittingly, by a series of reports informed by bitterly conflicting interpretations. But the bottom line was agreed by all interested parties: Gray, after all, will not take up her role as the prime minister’s “envoy for the regions and nations”.
The news came 32 days after Gray began a “short break” from No 10 following her ouster as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. Friends of Gray told media outlets she had, after much thought, chosen to turn down the position; No 10 insiders insisted Starmer had withdrawn the job offer.
Last month, when the prime minister reordered his inner circle, eyebrows were instinctively suspended by the announcement of Gray as No 10’s new “regions” tsar. Indeed, to mix my Russian metaphors, some suggested “nations and regions” was really Westminster’s equivalent of Siberia: i.e. Soviet-esque political exile.
And, lo, Gray is gone.
When it comes to Starmer’s former fixer — and the torrent of vindictive briefing that surrounds her — it’s difficult to parse truth from spin. But whatever and/or whomever were the true cause of Labour’s travails, Gray became their personification. She was, at least, a symbol and, at most, an agent of Labour chaos. In any case, Gray had become the story and the prime minister duly dispensed of her — now completely.
One popular way of explaining Gray’s resignation was as the climax of a venomous power struggle between the PM’s onetime closest confidant and her successor, Morgan McSweeney. (Westminster finds tales of court intrigue irresistible). But the real story was that Gray represented Labour’s woes: her hand could be traced to every troubling development from “Sleaze” to Swift and, of course, her own Salary. It spoke to Gray’s influence — but also Labour’s inability to seize the narrative in government.
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Another point worth considering is that, by cause or coincidence, Labour has looked far more effective since Gray’s deposition.
Strategically, the government’s political operation is more focused, thanks, one supposes, to McSweeney’s comms canny. Labour’s “five missions” have taken a back seat to a set of more tightly defined (and politically potent) “priorities” on the NHS, economic growth and illegal immigration. The government’s purpose, of which it seemed bereft mere months ago, is to better the lot of “working people”.
Alongside McSweeney, Starmer has bolstered his government by marching a veritable Blairite battalion back to the halls of power. The respective returns of New Labour powerhouses Jonathan Powell (national security adviser), Liz Lloyd (director of policy delivery and innovation), Alan Milburn (non-executive director, DHSC) and Sir Michael Barber (adviser on effective delivery) speak not to the resurrection of an old political consensus — but a government prioritising expertise and experience (in lieu, it would seem, of any extensive preparatory work).
As I wrote on Tuesday, “Starmer’s ‘ruthlessness’ (a description conservative commentators have learnt to despise) does not only manifest with sackings or forced resignations. It is visible too in his concerted elevation of experienced figures at the expense, logically, of new Labour (small ‘n’) talent.”
On top of this, the arrival of the budget after an extended and difficult proxy war sharpened Labour’s political edge. For months, Starmer’s economic policy was defined by the plan to take the winter fuel allowance from 10 million pensioners. The policy, sold as a “tough decision”, filled the political vacuum as months of relative monotony passed Labour by.
The budget, in the end, was intriguingly uncomplicated. Built on the basic and valid premise that Britain’s public services are breaking and choking growth, Rachel Reeves taxed, borrowed and spent to the tune of tens of billions. Suddenly, Starmer seized the narrative and the government’s laser focus on “working people” looks rather less like empty rhetoric. (Reeves’ budget, as I argued earlier this month, shows Labour is coming for the populists).
This is not to say all is well for Labour at present; and relative “stability” is not the summit of Starmer’s ambitions. Indeed, the polls and the PM’s favourability ratings suggest recent difficulties have taken an electoral toll. That is the political reality with which McSweeney must reckon.
But with the budget passed and (counter-intuitively) a new Conservative leader elected, Labour finally has reasons to be cheerful.
On the Labour government’s 100-day milestone, which arrived with a deluge of derogatory commentary, I posed the following questions: “What happens to the Conservative Party if McSweeney, in time, succeeds in sharpening Labour’s political edge? What happens if the Tory bubble, swelled with political hubris, bursts? What kind of tumult is then triggered?”
We are still some time away from receiving answers. But recent advances suggest Starmer’s ruthlessness, with regard to Gray in particular, has been rewarded.
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