Sue Gray takes up seat in House of Lords – and receives new title
Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Gray has taken up her place in the House of Lords after she was nominated by the prime minister for a peerage.
Ms Gray will now be known as Baroness Gray of Tottenham, representing the area in north London where she was born, and she will sit in the upper chamber as a Labour peer.
The former civil servant, who quit Downing Street last October after about three months in the role, was nominated for a life peerage by the prime minister in December.
She had resigned from her job as Sir Keir’s top adviser amid a power struggle in Number 10.
It saw Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s former campaign director who masterminded the party’s election landslide, replace her in the role.
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Ms Gray rose to public prominence after authoring the report into parties in Downing Street during the pandemic.
Her move to Labour attracted headlines from the beginning, with the Tories raising questions about how much contact she’d had with the party about the top job while still a civil servant.
But it was an internal row that led to her leaving the chief of staff role, with Labour’s first three months in office dominated by negative headlines about her.
Tensions over Ms Gray’s position reached a crescendo when her salary of £170,000 – some £3,000 more than the prime minister – was leaked to the BBC in an apparent attempt to damage her politically.
It was also reported at the time that she was blamed by party staff who were disgruntled they were not being paid more than what they received when Labour was in opposition.
Ms Gray missed Labour’s first party conference in power as the prime minister attracted scrutiny for the more than £100,000 worth of gifts he accepted as Labour leader, including tickets to football matches, concerts and luxury clothes.
Baroness Gray was later offered the role of the prime minister’s envoy for the nations and regions, which she ultimately rejected after missing the first key summit relevant to her new remit.
In her resignation letter last October, Ms Gray said that while it had been “an honour to take on the role of chief of staff”, it had become clear that “intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government’s vital work of change”.
“It is for that reason I have chosen to stand aside, and I look forward to continuing to support the prime minister in my new role,” she added.
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Ms Gray was among 30 new Labour peerages announced ahead of Christmas to redress the party “imbalance” in the House of Lords.
The Conservatives nominated six people, and the Liberal Democrats two.
Taking her seat in the unelected House of Lords, Ms Gray wore the traditional scarlet robes for the short introduction ceremony in the upper chamber, where she swore the oath of allegiance to the King.
She was supported by former Whitehall chief and independent crossbencher Lord O’Donnell and fellow Labour peer Baroness Harman.
Her son, the Labour MP Liam Conlon, watched the ceremony from the public gallery in the Lords.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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