Keir Starmer will chalk up 100 days as prime minister subsequent Saturday.
He’ll accomplish that with out his now-former chief of workers Sue Grey, who right this moment carried the can for the chaos which has engulfed the federal government since Labour’s landslide election victory simply three months in the past.
Though the official line from No.10 was that Grey resigned, HuffPost UK has discovered that the PM in the end determined that she needed to go.
A senior Labour supply mentioned: “Change was wanted. Issues weren’t working correctly. Higher to do it now than let it drag on.”
It’s understood that the ultimate straw was the choice, blamed on Grey, that Starmer ought to pay again round £6,000 for hospitality and items he has acquired from Labour supporters since turning into prime minister.
The transfer seemed to be an act of contrition by the PM, and inevitably led to different ministers being requested whether or not they could be following go well with. Thus far, none have executed so.
“That was the nail within the coffin,” mentioned one senior Labour determine.
One other insider added: “That is Keir’s regular sample – one thing drifts on for some time after which he acts onerous and ruthelessly.”
Grey has additionally been blamed for the brand new authorities’s full failure to set the political climate since July 4.
As Starmer’s chief of workers in opposition, it was thought that she would use her huge expertise from her time within the civil service to meticulously draw up after which implement Labour’s plan for presidency.
“Persons are aggravated in regards to the lack of preparation,” mentioned one Downing Avenue supply. “It’s truly unforgivable.”
Final month’s Labour convention – which Grey didn’t attend – was purported to be a reset second.
However the row over freebies for senior Labour figures has refused to go away, fully overshadowing the federal government’s makes an attempt to get again on the entrance foot.
In the meantime, rumours in regards to the unhealthy blood amongst Starmer’s officers – specifically the long-running feud between Grey and the PM’s chief adviser, Morgan McSweeney – continued.
She acknowledged the harm that was doing in her resignation assertion, by which she admitted that the hypothesis about her personal place had change into “a distraction to the federal government’s very important work”.
So as to add insult to harm for Grey, McSweeney has changed her as chief of workers as a part of a serious shake-up inside No.10.
One authorities aide mentioned: “Morgan’s the political equal of Yoda. He might be excellent.
“He ran some of the disciplined, strategic and profitable election campaigns in historical past. Folks mentioned we may by no means win the get together again from the onerous left – Morgan did it.”
Grey has not disappeared fully, and her new position as Starmer’s envoy for the nations and areas might be an vital one, albeit far much less influential than her earlier job.
The Tories – lots of whom have by no means forgiven Grey for her partygate report which in the end led to Boris Johnson’s elimination from workplace – can hardly consider their luck.
“Sue Grey was introduced in to ship a programme for presidency and all we’ve seen in that point is a authorities of self-service,” mentioned a Conservative spokesperson. “The one query that continues to be is who will run the nation now?”
With a parliament-defining Price range barely three weeks away, Starmer must shortly present that he’s the one calling the photographs. His determination to oust Sue Grey is his first step in direction of doing simply that.
