Sir Keir Starmer has praised Sue Gray as “a woman of incredible integrity” after it emerged she was in contact with the Labour chair of the partygate inquiry while still a civil servant.
On Thursday, Sky News’s political correspondent Joe Pike revealed that the Labour leader’s incoming chief of staff was in personal contact with Harriet Harman while she led the probe into whether Boris Johnson lied to parliament over Downing Street lockdown gatherings.
In the early stages of the parliamentary investigation, the veteran Labour MP privately said of her fact-finding efforts: “I just speak to Sue.”
It comes amid continued questions about when Ms Gray, who led the government investigation into allegations of lockdown rule-breaking, first began talking to Sir Keir about joining his top team.
Asked about the Sky News report, Sir Keir said: “Sue Gray is an excellent person, her reputation goes before her.
“Like all senior civil servants now she’s left the civil service, she has to go through a process, through a committee, before she starts any other role, that process is ongoing and we’re just waiting for the results now.”
Asked whether he was confident that nothing had been done wrong, he said: “I’m confident that Sue Gray is a woman of incredible integrity and experience, and she’s going through the process because that’s what every senior civil servant has to go through when they leave the civil service.”
In March this year, Sky News revealed that Ms Gray was in secret talks with Labour about becoming Sir Keir’s chief of staff, and within hours she had quit the civil service in order to take up the role.
However her appointment is subject to approval by the advisory committee on business appointments (Acoba), which can impose conditions and a cooling-off period before future employment can begin.
While that process is still under way, the government has carried out its own internal inquiry following an angry reaction from Conservative MPs who have called the situation “unprecedented” and sought to discredit her partygate findings.
Sky News understands the contact between Ms Gray and Ms Harman was direct and not via parliamentary or civil service officials.
At the time, Ms Gray had concluded her report into lockdown-breaking parties in government and was running the constitution unit at the Cabinet Office.
There is no suggestion Ms Harman was aware of Labour’s plans to recruit Ms Gray at the time of her conversations, or that the contact continued after Ms Gray was first approached by aides to Sir Keir.
Labour ‘takes harassment claims extremely seriously’
Sir Keir was speaking on a visit to the Crick Institute in central London, when he also addressed reports an internal investigation into groping claims took three years.
The adviser in question was reportedly allowed to keep their position following two separate probes but has since resigned.
Questioned on the case for the first time since details emerged, Sir Keir said sexual harassment allegations are taken “extremely seriously” by his party and called the internal complaints procedure “completely independent” of political influence.
He said: “I do understand, from my experience as chief prosecutor, how difficult it is for people to come forward.
“That is among the reasons why we made our process completely independent, so it is not a political process any more.
“What I would say is: I would encourage anybody to come forward and to feel they are supported through that independent process.”