Exclusive: Some ministers have rallied around chief of staff while others accuse her of ‘control freakery’

Keir Starmer has become exasperated about in-fighting across government involving Sue Gray, with the prime minister under pressure from senior aides and cabinet ministers to resolve the row.

Sources said the situation would come to a head after he returned from his trip to the UN in New York, where he was joined by his chief of staff. Starmer is said to be dismayed at tensions inside the No 10 machine.