By Becky Morton
Political reporter
Former senior civil servant Sue Gray has been cleared to start working for the Labour Party from September.
Parliament’s appointments advisory body recommended a six month break from when she quit as an official in March.
Some Tories had expressed anger that she was offered a job as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
They said it undermined the impartiality of her report on lockdown gatherings in No 10, which contributed to Boris Johnson’s downfall.
Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) are not binding but both Labour and Ms Gray have said they will abide by them.
Sir Keir said he was “delighted” Ms Gray would be working for the party.
“Sue will lead our work preparing for a mission-led Labour government,” he said.
“She brings unrivalled experience on how the machinery of government works and is a woman of great integrity.”
With a general election expected next year, Ms Gray will play a key role in helping Labour prepare for government, if it wins power.
Opposition parties routinely speak to current civil servants to prepare for this potential transition and Ms Gray will likely be involved in this.
Ms Gray told the committee she received a call from Sir Keir in October last year, when he raised the idea of her working for Labour in a senior capacity.
She said she would be open to such a possibility if she left the civil service.
Ms Gray resigned from the civil service on 2 March, following media speculation about a potential job offer from Labour, but she told the committee there was no formal offer of employment until that date.
She said that while she had brief personal conversations with Labour during her time in office, no government policy or business was discussed.
The committee said there was no evidence her contact with Labour had impacted her actions in her civil service role or her ability to remain impartial.
It added that there was “limited scope for Ms Gray to offer unfair influence in securing access to government”.
However, it said there remained “a potential risk to the perceived impartiality of the civil service that would be exacerbated” if she took up the job immediately on leaving office.
Under the civil service code, officials of Ms Gray’s seniority must wait a minimum of three months before taking up outside employment.
As well as a six month break, the committee also recommended Ms Gray should not be personally involved in lobbying the government on behalf of the opposition or use her government contacts to influence policy for two years from the date she left the civil service.
