British political power hangs on his lips. Senior civil servant Sue Gray is responsible for leading the investigation into the festive events organized in Downing Street in full confinement. The scandals follow one another and the last revelation, this Monday, relates to the organization of a birthday party that the wife of Boris Johnson would have organized for him during the first confinement in 2020 according to the ITV media. The role of Sue Gray: to determine whether these meetings watered in full confinement can benefit from the status of a work meeting. The stakes are high since the long-awaited report from this 64-year-old woman will influence the future of Boris Johnson and affect the management of 10 Downing Street. Brown square, dark suit and necklace of black pearls around his neck, his portrait made the headlines across the Channel. Still unknown to the general public a few months ago, the second permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office holds the fate of the country in her hands. A mission which was intended for the senior British civil servant Simon Case who withdrew last month following reports according to which an aperitif had taken place in his office.
On this file, Sue Gray plays the substitutes, but she is far from being a novice in the matter. She came to prominence when she held the role of supervising ministerial offices and ethics in government (2012-2018). At this time, the official is described as “the woman who runs the country.” Polly Mackenzie – who worked as a special adviser at the Cabinet Office – told BBC’s ‘Profile’ in 2017: “Sue has been around for so long, she knows everything anyone has ever done wrong.” Her experience in high-profile personal conduct inquiries made her the ideal candidate to lead the Downing Street inquiry. No matter the political color, Sue Gray works with both Labor and Conservatives. In 2012, she oversees the ‘Plebgate’ inquiry after former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell was accused of calling a policeman a ‘dirty prole’ who banned him from using his bike when leaving Downing Street. Despite a public apology, Andrew Mitchell had to resign barely a month after the incident.
In the same year, then Labor MP Paul Flynn referred to Sue Gray as “Deputy God” at a meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration Committee. In the aftermath, the steamroller Gray brings down a new head. The Briton is leading the inquiry into the allegations against MP Damian Green. In 2008, the latter denies keeping child pornography images on his computer, which Sue Gray will eventually prove. In 2017, the one who holds the post of First Secretary of State admits having lied about the discovery of pornographic images on his computer ten years earlier. Damian Green is fired from his cabinet post. In total, Sue Gray put an end to the careers of three Conservative ministers. When the British media portray her, they describe her as an authoritative, but also capable and influential woman.
A unique career path
In 2015, she was hailed by a former BBC Newsnight editor as “the most powerful person you’ve never heard of”. Six years later, her aura hasn’t dried up: “Sue Gray will do absolutely thorough work. Sue Gray can follow the evidence wherever it leads. Anything Sue Gray needs to do, she will be able to do. We need to know the facts and that’s what Sue Gray is doing. We ask for patience while Sue Gray conducts her investigation”, wrote in an opinion piece published last January from the Guardian, journalist Stewart Lee. In mid-December, the Conservative MP Richard Holden does not weigh his words at the microphone of the BBC, describing the senior civil servant as “formidable”. Her influence, Susan Gray acquired it by climbing the ladder. It does not pass through the great schools of the country which propel directly to important positions.
Even more surprisingly, she took a break from her career at the end of the 1980s to settle in Ireland with her husband Bill Conlon, a country singer. In Newry, in the north of the country, the couple runs a bar and the senior civil servant serves the beers. “I loved it, I loved it then, I would never do it again,” she told the BBC several years later. After this brief aside, she joined the Cabinet Office at the end of the 1990s and held positions of responsibility. In 2018, Sue Gray was appointed to Northern Ireland as Permanent Secretary to the Executive Department of Finance from May 2018. In her memoir, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown describes her as someone who could be relied on for “wise advice when – as happened all too regularly – mini-crises and crises occurred.” Once again, Sue Gray seems to be the woman for the job.