Stammer’s Super Chief of Staff, Sue Gray, In Row Over £170,000 Salary: Governance Lessons

Politically, this controversy has cast a shadow over Starmer’s administration. It has been viewed as inconsistent with Labour’s public stance on fairness. The “cost of living” crisis has impacted the renumeration of key public sector workers in the United Kingdom, making the issue of bumper pay more politically sensitive. It would be hard to justify to teachers, fire fighters, nurses etc whose demand for high pay has been resisted what a Chief of Staff does to earn £170,000 per annum.

The greater political damage however may be the feeling of disunity at the heart of the Labour government that is just three months in office. There have been reports of internal friction between Gray and other senior Labour figures, such as Morgan McSweeney, director of political strategy. The details of Sue Gray’s salary were leaked to the BBC by senior party insiders.

Prime Minister Starmer must address the perception of internal division at the heart of government quickly before it creates the perception of an incoherent government that is ill suited to focussing on governance and coordinating the machinery of government to deliver its agenda.

At any rate, informed Nigerians must pity the poverty of the British. Sue  Gray’s annual salary- £170,000- that has had all of Britain up in arms- is just the sort of payday a powerful Nigerian Chief of Staff would arrange for an ally with just a single contract.

Transformational Political Leaders: The Role of  Independent Gatekeepers  in Getting the Right Balance Between Politics, Governance and Performance 

The Sue Gray affair raises important questions for Nigeria about the independence of the civil service (from politicians) and how the character and enormous power of senior bureaucrats and political appointees like Ms Gray is essential to preserving that independence and making government deliver useful things for citizens.

A former cabinet minister said about Gray, “our great United Kingdom is actually entirely run by a lady called Sue Gray…Unless she agrees, things just don’t happen”.

Sue Gray is known for her exceptional effectiveness in delivering results. Talented individuals like her are appointed as Chief of Staff due to their proven skills and track record in driving public service performance. Political leaders seek out such expertise to help realize their agendas—this is precisely what Keir Starmer is investing in with Gray’s £170,000 salary. The primary qualifications for this role are independence, proven capability and experience in the very specific and well-defined field of public service performance, rather than loyalty.

Politics-managing internal and external stakeholders-is always a threat to governance (managing and mobilising resources and the design and execution of policy to transform the economy and society).

A Chief of Staff (working with a small team of highly qualified economic technocrats in the cabinet or presidency)  must be able to keep the  focus- the balance of the government’s policies, actions, utterances i.e its primary character and essence-on governance.

The Chief of Staff hence must be someone who has the skills and courage to  say “No” and be able to shield the president’s agenda from people, policies or schemes that hinder how first, the presidency and the cabinet and then the whole of government function daily in the march towards achieving the political leader’s agenda.

If a Nigerian cabinet had five individuals like Sue Gray—people with a history of achieving significant outcomes in global institutions, whether public or private—in a well-defined field, their contributions would justify a salary of £170,000. It seems that Nigerian presidents fail right from the start, by not having the discipline to do things differently from their predecessors by appointing a team of highly qualified, independent technocrats-people who can tell them no-rather than old loyalists as Chiefs of Staff and to key economic policy positions.

Subscribe to Notifications