Sue Gray's new Labour job proves Boris Johnson was victim of 'left-wing stitch up' – Tory MPs
Allies of Boris Johnson across the region have reacted with fury after Sue Gray – who led the Partygate probe – was handed a top job with Sir Keir Starmer.
The senior civil servant, whose report played a major role in Mr Johnson's downfall as PM, has been lined up as the Labour leader's chief of staff.
It has sparked uproar among Tory MPs in the Black Country and Staffordshire, who say the appointment casts serious doubts over her impartiality in the inquiry.
Dudley North MP Marco Longhi said the move proved Mr Johnson was removed from power by a "left-wing establishment stitch-up", and called for an inquiry into Sue Gray herself.
"Boris Johnson appointed Sue Gray trusting her impartiality," he said. "She then expressed opinions about Boris, opinions we now know were not impartial. She also sought advice from legal people who openly support Labour.
"There should be an inquiry into Sue Gray herself. What contact did she have with the Labour Party for her to suddenly become Labour chief of staff?
"This is an extraordinary situation. Everybody knows that the civil service is rarely impartial – but this isn’t even pretending that it isn’t.
"How can any minister now feel they can rely on impartial advice?
"Boris Johnson was one of the most successful Prime Ministers who has been removed by a socialist stitch up aided by a feeding frenzy of left-wing media."
Stourbridge MP Suzanne Webb said: "I think people might view Sue Gray and her report into Downing Street and Boris Johnson during lockdown in a new light following her acceptance of this senior job with Labour.
"She is now the right-hand person of Sir Keir Starmer and her acceptance of the role puts her credibility and her report into question.
"I find the news of her new job quite extraordinary, especially as her neutrality was the reason she was tasked with the investigation in the first place."
Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said the appointment was "a terrible look for Starmer and awkward for the civil service" – and also proved that Sue Gray's true colours were "red".
He added: "Sue Gray's political appointment with Labour, which has cast grave doubts on her independence during the Partygate inquiry, reopens questions as to why Keir Starmer was not prosecuted for his party during lockdown in County Durham, which has a Labour Police and Crime Commissioner."
Ms Gray's report, published last May, lifted the lid on a number of Downing Street lockdown gatherings, eight of which were said to have been attended by Mr Johnson.
She concluded there had been "failures of leadership and judgment in No 10 and the Cabinet Office", and said: "Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen."
A Cabinet Office spokesperson last night confirmed that Ms Gray had resigned from her post at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
