Who is Sue Gray, the shadow civil servant who could bring down Boris Johnson?

The BBC described it in 2015 as “the most influential person you’ve never heard of”. 64-year-old Sue Gray, the current deputy director of the Cabinet Office, is tasked with investigating parties in Downing Street in 2020, when severe restrictions were imposed across the country. His report, eagerly awaited by the British, will be unveiled in the coming days and will have to determine the responsibility of each other, in particular that of Boris Johnson.

Renowned for her independence, this senior civil servant began her career in the 1970s before interrupting it ten years later, for love. As punks climb into the Top 50, the function decides to marry a Northern Irish singer from countrymusic with whom, she will head up a bar in Newry, Northern Ireland. “I loved it, I loved it then, I would never do it again”, she told the BBC a few years later.

After this parenthesis, Sue Gray returned to service and joined the Cabinet Office in the 90s. This woman in the shadows, described as a “uncompromising operator” by the daily The Guardian, then worked on both the Labor and Conservative sides. Fair and ruthless, it will end the careers of three Conservative ministers, including Damian Green, a close friend of Theresa May. In 2008, the latter denied having child pornography images on his computer, which Sue Gray would eventually prove.

Not enough to reassure Boris Johnson. accused of having “break the law” by attending these parties, Boris Johnson risks his resignation, or that his own Tory MPs may force him to decide on a new election. In an attempt to save his skin, the British Prime Minister decided to announce a ban on alcohol in Downing Street offices.