Sue Gray did not enjoy being in the public eye, Cabinet minister says

Sue Gray decided to take a break from government as she has "not enjoyed" the spotlight, according to Cabinet minister Pat McFadden.

Ms Gray resigned from her role as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff over the weekend, and will be adopting a new position as UK nations and regions envoy.

However, despite her recent move, Ms Gray will be absent from the inaugural gathering of leaders from across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and English regions in Edinburgh on Friday.

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Mr McFadden, who is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told broadcasters she had “been through quite a lot” in recent weeks, following reports of turmoil at the heart of Sir Keir’s No 10.

Asked why she would not be attending the summit of UK regional and national leaders, Mr McFadden told Sky News: “Sue has been through quite a lot in the last few weeks. I worked with her, she is a great colleague. She is taking a short break now and I think we should allow her the time in privacy to do that.”

He later told LBC: “I know that she has not enjoyed being a figure in the public eye unlike me, who can come on your programme and speak for myself and answer any of your questions. As an official, she can’t do that. Given what she has been through in the last few weeks, she has decided to take a bit of downtime, take a bit of a break, and I quite understand why.”

Asked how long Ms Gray’s break would be, Mr McFadden said: “I don’t think it will be long, but let’s give her a bit of space and privacy after somebody who, as I said, can’t speak up for themselves, finding themselves on the front pages of the newspapers in a way that she has not wanted to be.”

Mr McFadden would not disclose if Ms Gray would continue being paid while she was taking time away from work. He would also not be drawn into addressing reports that Ms Gray may be negotiating severance pay from her Downing Street role during her hiatus from Government.

He told Times Radio: "It wouldn’t be right for me to go into anybody’s terms and conditions, HR issues, things like that. So I couldn’t comment on that."

The Cabinet Office is expected to set out details of Ms Gray’s role shortly, after mounting questions over the details of the job.