Men in Gray suits: why the plots against Starmer's top adviser?

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The revelation that Keir Starmer's chief of staff earns nearly ￡170,000 – about ￡3,000 more than the prime minister himself – has thrown a match on the fuel of recent recriminations concerning Sue Gray.

Amid a bitter dispute between No 10 and government advisers over pay, the BBC revealed yesterday that Gray earns more than any cabinet minister (￡158,851) and more than her Conservative predecessor in Downing Street (￡140,000-￡145,000). More damagingly, the BBC claimed the controversial top adviser refused to accept a lower salary. "It was suggested that she might want to go for a few thousand pounds less than the prime minister to avoid this very story," the story's source told the BBC. "She declined."

The Cabinet Office has refuted this, saying it was "false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions" on their salary. "Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials," the spokesperson said.

What did the commentators say?

Downing Street will be "growing gloomier while reading the sheer amount of coverage in today's papers", said Politico's London Playbook newsletter. The leak "confirms the bitter acrimony at the heart of the new government".

But no one could say this is a 'Westminster bubble' story", said The Spectator's political editor Katy Balls. It "fits a pattern". The news cycle has been awash with negative briefings about Gray which seem to be coming "from her own side".

Gray has been accused of "personally dominating" talks over funding for Casement Park, the derelict stadium in Belfast. There's "discomfort" over who Gray might hire at the (supposedly neutral) civil service – such as Labour staffers. There have been "regular reports of friction" between Gray and Morgan McSweeney, Starmer's senior adviser and director of political strategy.

This latest controversy leaves Starmer facing "an acrimonious pay revolt" by special advisers, said the Financial Times. Many spads are now refusing to sign contracts they claim offer "substandard pay" – in some cases, lower than their Tory predecessors doing the same job, and lower than what they were paid by Labour as advisers in opposition. Some believe Gray has "failed to stand up for her colleagues", leaving morale at rock bottom.

In Gray's defence, the chief of staff "gets blamed for anything", even if unfairly, one Downing Street source told the paper.

That may be so, said The Times, but the fact is Gray was part of the recent four-person "special advisers board" that signed off on the overhaul of pay for aides. In that context, her salary "has not gone down well, to put it mildly".

Plus, a senior civil servant like Gray would know how much the prime minister earns. To take a higher salary shows "an extraordinary lack of political nous", according to one adviser. "Why make enemies of the people who are effectively the glue that allows the leaders in government to work in the best way they can do?"

And that's the true motivation behind this leak, said the BBC's Chris Mason. At its crux, this story is "not about her salary". There is indeed a "deep sense of anger" over Gray's pay – many times higher than the national average – but this is about the "levels of upset and anger – fair or otherwise – about her role at the top of government". It's about the "fractious relationships" and frustration in the heart of the administration. That's what motivated the confidential informant from inside the government to tip off the BBC at "considerable professional risk".

Gray's allies say there is a "nasty and vindictive campaign" against her, but "the central truth" is that there is a row at the top of a new government. And people deserve to know.

What next?

The Cabinet secretary has been called in to investigate "hostile briefing" against Gray, said The Telegraph, with the prime minister reportedly enraged over the stories.

Simon Case is expected to leave his role as the UK's top civil servant around the end of this year due to poor health – but he is reportedly facing pressure to quit early due to anger over leaks about donations to Starmer and his wife and the briefings against Gray, said the London Evening Standard. Downing Street has been forced to deny that there is a "nest of vipers" in Starmer's administration.

The opposition is demanding to know whether Starmer personally signed off on Gray's salary, or changed the rules to allow her to be paid more than him – but the business secretary has denied this. Ministers have "no political input" into officials' pay, said Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds. There is "an official process" that sets pay bands for advisers – they "are not set by politicians".

But as things stand, Gray "risks becoming a distraction for the government", said The Spectator's Balls. Starmer will have to find a way to "unite his team, otherwise he faces a damaging drip drip of briefings for months to come".