The high-ranking civil servant who researched the “crown parties” in Downing Street during the pandemic, he resigned to take over as chief of staff to the opposition leader Keir Starmera development that caused much comment and criticism for the impartiality of her work, which contributed to the downfall of Boris Johnson.

Sue Gray, until then an “anonymous” public servant but renowned for her integrity, became known around the world when her report on partygate, the scandal of parties at the Prime Minister’s residence in the midst of the Covid-19 quarantine, was made public. This scandal followed Johnson until his resignation from the prime ministership, last July.

Downing Street announced today that she is leaving her post at the Cabinet Office, the agency that co-ordinates government action, with immediate effect. The agency said it was “looking into the circumstances under which he resigned.”

Labor confirmed soon after that she had been offered the role of chief of staff in Starmer’s office.

According to Labour, Gray “hopes she will accept” the proposal, but this will only happen if it is approved by the UK Parliament’s anti-corruption committee. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could also veto it.

60-year-old Sue Gray had a reputation for impartiality. Her joining Labor was scathingly commented on by close aides of former prime minister Boris Johnson: “The Gray report now looks like a left-wing stew against a Tory prime minister,” tweeted former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.

She had worked as head of ethics at the Cabinet Office between 2012 and 2018. The BBC reported that in the 1980s she took a break from her long career in public service to run… a pub in Northern Ireland. A 2015 article described her as “the strongest person you’ve never heard of.”