THE top civil servant who penned the report which led to the demise of British PM Boris Johnson returned to Belfast this morning to address a business gathering.
Sue Gray's no-holds-barred exposé of Covid parties at Number 10 made her the toast of the general public but the enemy of powerful interests within government. She was later to be targeted by Tory politicians and the British press when she left the civil service to work for Keir Starmer in the run-up to the 2024 election.
Ironically, she was later to fall foul of the Madelson/McSweeney cabal in the higher echelons of the Labour Party, forcing her from her post as Downing Street chief of staff.
She is now Chair of the UK arm of global advisory group Conselo and is a director of the USPCA in the North.
Ms Gray also served as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Finance here where she was reported to have ruffled feathers in her determination to get things done. The daughter of Irish-born parents, she remains intensely proud of her Tottenham roots and took the title Baroness Gray of Tottenham when appointed to the House of Lords in December 2024.
Among attendees at the West Belfast Small Business Circle breakfast at An Chultúrlann were Aidan Flynn of Maurice Flynn Construction, Emer Hinphey of AAB, publicist Lois O'Kane, start-up founder Gail Cook and local linen manufacturer Eileen Haye.
