Labour’s House of Cards: Sue Gray’s Resignation

The Mandarin War: Sue Gray Vs The McSweeney Boys

Sue Gray – the very woman who once held Boris Johnson’s feet to the fire over Partygate – now finds herself victim of a Mandarin civil war. Her resignation as Prime Minister Starmer’s chief of staff, barely three months into Labour’s tenure, speaks volumes about the rot festering at the heart of our political system.

Thanking Ms Gray for her work, Prime Minister Starmer said he was “delighted” she would stay by his side in her new role, and added the shake-up showed his “determination to deliver”.

However, just a few weeks ago, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was staunchly defending Sue Gray’s “exceptional” work, claiming she was being unfairly “demonised” in the media, with no opportunity to defend herself. Rayner and other ministers even suggested that the criticism had a “gendered” slant.

Supporters argued that, as a career civil servant, Gray could remain neutral and detached from Labour’s internal disputes. However, one government insider accused Labour’s right wing of “grinding away at her,” frustrated by the idea of a civil servant wielding such significant power within the Party.

There was no doubt Ms Gray had been subject to intense internal briefings and criticism in a government yet to reach its first 100 days in office, and it is that level of dysfunction that has made it clear that something needed to shift and shift it did… a veritable backstage drama of quiet finger-pointing and daggers in the back.

Pushed to the limits Gray departed saying it had been an honour to “play my part in the delivery of a Labour government” as Sir Keir’s chief of staff, both in opposition and in No 10.

“However in recent weeks it has become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government’s vital work of change,” she said.

“It is for that reason I have chosen to stand aside, and I look forward to continuing to support the prime minister in my new role.”

Gray’s departure statement drips with political doublespeak, claiming she’s stepping down to avoid becoming a “distraction”. Meanwhile, Labour, ever the slogan-slingers, dubs it a ‘reset’. But let’s not mince words, dear reader. This is neither reset nor retreat, and certainly no noble sacrifice. No, the real story here is a sordid tale of nepotism, cronyism, and the same old Westminster games that Labour once vowed to end gladly spilt out for public consumption all adding up to Sue Gray being outmanoeuvred.

It seems Gray committed the cardinal sin in the world of Labour politics she crossed the wrong gang the ‘McSweeney’s Boys’ as they like to call themselves – After doing so, the press ran stories of Gray salary topping Starmer’s asking the question who runs the Labour Party as if the optics alone would do the job… but then came the murky matter of Lord Alli’s donations, a tangled web of nepotism and questionable financial flows that would make a spider’s head spin.

Even the recent Labour conference was overshadowed by controversy over clothing donations from Labour peer and longstanding donor Lord Waheed Alli, for whom Ms Gray reportedly authorised a temporary Downing Street pass after the election.

Much more damaging for her, though, was the level of anger towards her at the heart of government, indicated by high level sources being willing to leak the BBC confidential details of her salary.

Under such circumstances, it quickly came to light while the front bench bathed in gifts of delight from the generous coffers of Lord Alli Gray’s son, the freshly minted Labour MP Liam Conlon, found himself the lucky recipient of a £10,000 “campaign donation” from Lord Alli. This tidy sum, we’re told, took a scenic route through Gray’s own pockets before landing in her son’s coffers. One can almost hear the ghost of Nye Bevan spinning in his grave.

Morgan McSweeney…

Morgan McSweeney, the supposed ‘mastermind’ behind Labour’s election victory. However, you have to wonder what masterful strategy was required to defeat a Tory Party that had spent 14 years diligently digging its own political grave. But I digress. McSweeney’s history paints a picture of a man well-versed in the dark arts of political machinations. He’s credited as one of the key figures in ‘Labour Together’, a think tank formed in 2017 with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. As director of this influential policy group, McSweeney’s primary aim was clear: to drag the Labour party kicking and screaming from the left, and to plot the downfall of then-leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Make no mistake, dear reader. McSweeney, along with his cohorts, didn’t just work to bring down Corbyn’s Labour. Oh no, they were busy laying the groundwork for a new, center-right Party, readying the stage for Starmer’s coronation as leader. It’s a tale of political intrigue that would make House of Cards look like a children’s puppet show.

When McSweeney arrived in the leader of the opposition’s office after Sir Keir’s leadership victory in 2020, he ensured supporters of Mr Corbyn were removed from every lever of power inside the party.

He also set up the Center for Countering Digital Hate during this time, initially designed to target antisemitism, which had become a huge problem for the party, of course, we all know it was a scam and instead of tackling real antisemitism, it used its influence to remove or suspend Corbyn supporters from the Labour Party.

And now – the grand reshuffling of Starmer’s top team unfolds like a Machiavellian chess game, with new deputy chiefs of staff, principal private secretaries, and ‘strategic communications’ leads sliding into place. This petty palace coup lays bare the stark reality of who truly holds the reins of power within the Labour Party.

As Morgan McSweeney ascends to Gray’s vacated throne as Starmer’s chief of staff, one can almost hear the blades being placed back into their shelves – It’s a fait accompli…for now…

The Labour Party is a party mired in betrayal, endlessly turning against itself… like an ouroboros trapped in a relentless cycle of self-destruction.

The opposition, naturally, is having a field day. The Conservatives and SNP, with all the glee of schoolchildren who’ve caught the headmaster with his trousers down, declare Labour to be in “chaos”. The Tories, with a straight face that deserves an Oscar, ask, “Who will run the country now?” – as if they hadn’t spent the last 14 years providing a masterclass in mismanagement.

As for the parties in Wales, it seems Starmer’s, ‘nations and regions’ strategy amounts to little more than the occasional photo opportunity and a pat on the head. Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth’s scathing critique – that this is ‘cynicism of the highest order’ – hits uncomfortably close to home.

So here we are, not even 100 days into Starmer’s premiership, and already the cracks are showing. The promise of a “New Labour” feels more like “Old Habits Die Hard”. The faces may have changed, but the game remains the same.

In the end, Sue Gray’s resignation isn’t just about one woman leaving her post. It’s a damning indictment of a political system that’s rotten to the core. It’s a stark reminder that, regardless of the colour of the rosette, power corrupts, and Westminster corrodes.

As we watch this political soap opera unfold, one can’t help but wonder: is this the best we can do? Is this the “change” we were promised? Or are we doomed to watch this endless cycle of scandals, resignations, and empty promises play out ad nauseam?

One thing’s for certain – the British public deserves better. We deserve a government that serves the many, not the few. We deserve leaders who stand for something more than their own career advancement. Until then, we’re left with this sorry spectacle, a government of skullduggery and plots, with no aim but to serve the oligarchy and big business in their push to globalise the machine and atomise the people.

Constantly I am reminded of Tony Benn’s prescient warning about the fate of the Labour Party:

“If the Labour Party could be bullied or persuaded to denounce its Marxists, the media – having tasted blood – would demand next that it expelled all its Socialist and reunited the remaining Labour Party with the SDP to form a harmless alternative to the Conservatives, which could then be allowed to take office now and then when the Conservatives fell out of favour with the public. Thus British Capitalism, it is argued, will be made safe forever, and socialism would be squeezed off the National agenda. But if such a strategy were to succeed… it would in fact profoundly endanger British society. For it would open up the danger of a swing to the far-right, as we have seen in Europe over the last 50 years.” -Tony Benn