Who is Sue Gray and when will her report hit Westminster?
Westminster continues to be gripped by the coming publication of the Sue Gray report, with speculation that it may now not arrive until next week.
Boris Johnson’s political career could be riding on the results of the report, with even some of his allies on the Tory backbenches ready to turn against him if the results are bad enough.
City PM provides a recap of who Gray is and why her report has been on the lips of millions of Brits across the country.
Who is Sue Gray?
Gray is a long-time civil servant and has been asked in the past to run several inquiries into alleged wrongdoing by MPs.
This includes a 2017 probe into ex-MP Damian Green for sexual harassment and a 2012 inquiry into the “plebgate” saga, which saw Tory MP Andrew Mitchell accused of verbally abusing police officers.
She is known as a consummate professional in the civil service and has been described by many former mandarins as a paragon of truth and virtue.
Gray worked in the Cabinet Office throughout the 2000s and 2010s, before she moved on to head up the Northern Ireland Department of Finance between 2018 and 2021.
She moved back to the Cabinet Office last year as second permanent secretary, before then moving to become the head civil servant at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
She previously left her civil service career in the 1980s to run a pub in Newry, Northern Ireland with her husband.
What is her report into?
Gray has been investigating the myriad allegations of lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street and Whitehall throughout 2020 and 2021.
The probe was first going to be run by cabinet secretary Sir Simon Case, however this was considered untenable after it was revealed he also attended a Cabinet Office event that may have broken Covid rules.
The probe is looking at least 13 events and some of them were attended by Boris Johnson.
The one Johnson could be in the most trouble for is the boozy “bring your own booze” bash held on 20 May 2020 in Number 10.
There is clear email evidence that this was a mass gathering at the height of lockdown and Johnson admitted he attended the garden party for 25 minutes.
He told the House of Commons that he thought it was a “work event”, however it has been widely speculated that there is evidence showing that the Prime Minister knows this is a lie.
Misleading the House of Commons is usually a resigning offence for ministers and prime ministers.
When will it arrive?
Twitchy journalists have been predicting the arrival of the report every day since last Thursday, with speculation becoming particularly raucous on Tuesday that Downing Street had received the findings.
This turned out to be untrue and Number 10 still has not had sight of the report.
The release of Gray’s findings has been complicated by the Metropolitan Police’s announcement this week that it was running a criminal investigation into some of the parties held in Downing Street and Whitehall.
The Sun reports today that this has held up the release of the report, with lawyers from the Cabinet Office speaking to the police about what can and can’t be released.
It is feared that the unfettered release of the entire Gray investigation could prejudice the Met’s investigation.
What will be the repercussions of the report?
Gray’s inquiry is not expected to personally place blame on individuals or make judgements about whether the Prime Minister has lied to the public or not.
It is expected that it will be a clear telling of the facts of the case, while also reporting on the wider culture of Downing Street during the pandemic.
One thing to note is that the Met launched its investigation on the back of evidence Gray submitted to the police, meaning that she may have uncovered evidence of widespread Covid rule-breaking.
How much of this involves the Prime Minister is the key question.
If there is enough in the report to suggest Johnson knew that the events in Number 10 were parties and not for work purposes it will likely trigger enough MPs to send in letters of no-confidence in his leadership.
Fifty-four Tory MPs need to send in letters of no-confidence to the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers to trigger a vote on Johnson’s leadership of the party.