Until a few days ago, it’s fair to presume that few people in the United Kingdom had heard of Sue Gray.
Her name is now in every newspaper, and she is a social media meme, with the prime minister’s future in her hands.
Investigating an occasion where alcohol was served sounds like an acceptable assignment for her as a former publican.
Is it possible that Boris Johnson broke his own COVID regulations by attending a “bring your own wine” party in his own backyard?
Also read | Partygate: Boris Johnson bracing for impact of Sue Gray report
That is what the senior civil servant has been tasked with discovering in a report due next week.
So, who is Sue Gray, dubbed “the person who runs” the UK by former cabinet minister Oliver Letwin?
Sue Gray, who is she?
Sue Gray, who is in her 60s, began working for the government after graduating from university and ascended through the ranks to the Cabinet Office, which provides support to the prime minister and ensures the smooth operation of government.
For six years, she was the head of the ethics team, which advises all government agencies on standards.
She earned a reputation for her tough demeanour and grasp of government matters, to the point where one former minister was told, “Our magnificent United Kingdom is actually totally managed by a lady named Sue Gray.”
A former Cabinet Office adviser claimed in 2017: “Sue has been there for so long, she knows everything that anybody has ever done wrong.”
Despite having started her career in the civil service, she took a break in the late 1980s to run a bar in Northern Ireland with her husband, country music musician Bill Conlon, according to British media.
She told the BBC, “I loved it at the moment, but I’d never do it again.”
(With inputs from agencies)
