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Sue Gray has been handed a peerage by Sir Keir Starmer, Downing Street confirmed on Friday.
The prime minister’s former chief of staff, who was responsible for the Partygate investigation that helped topple Boris Johnson’s government, will become a life peer.
It comes just months after she was sacked following a brutal power struggle at the heart of Sir Keir’s Downing Street operation between Ms Gray and Morgan McSweeney, who has now taken her job.
After less than three months in office since the election, the loss of Ms Gray – who he personally recruited to ensure he could drive through his policies through Whitehall once in power – was a major blow for Sir Keir.
But it followed weeks of infighting, which began almost immediately after Labour’s election win, as well as the revelation she was paid more than the prime minister, receiving a £170,000 salary.
Offering her resignation in October, Ms Gray said she had become a “distraction” from the PM’s work, citing “intense commentary” around her position.
She was appointed Sir Keir’s envoy for nations and regions, but humiliated the PM by announcing a month later that she had turned down the offer.
Ms Gray was one of 30 Labour peers appointed by Sir Keir on Friday, with other high profile names including former shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire, who lost her seat to Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer in July.
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