Civil Servant Who Handed Boris Diaries to Police is Found to be Related to Harriet Harman

The Express newspaper has revealed that top Cabinet office civil servant Alex Chisholm, who was 'used' to refer Boris Johnson to the police, is related by marriage to Harriet Harman.

The Express wrote that the "familial tie is yet another link between the top Government department at the heart of the Party-gate saga, sparking new questions about the neutrality and independence of the civil service".

Last week, Alex Chisholm handed Boris Johnson's diaries over to both the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley police amid allegations from Government lawyers that visits to Mr Johnson's grace-and-favour mansion Chequers had broken Covid rules.

Mr Chisholm also oversaw the handover of the diaries to Ms Harman's Privileges Committee, which is investigating whether the former PM 'recklessly' misled Parliament over lock-down parties.

Yet, what has gone unnoticed, up until now, is that the correspondence between the top civil servant and Harriet Harman was in fact a family affair.' the Express wrote. 'Research by The Express shows that Alex Chisholm is married to the cousin of Harriet Harman.

Mr Chisholm wed Eliza Pakenham in 1993, the granddaughter of Frank Pakenham and Elizabeth Pakenham, née Harman.

Frank Pakenham was himself one of Labour's longest-serving politicians, holding several cabinet positions in Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson's Governments.

Elizabeth Pakenham, Mr Chisholm's grandmother-in-law, was the aunt of Harriet Harman.

A Tory source told the Express "Once again the Cabinet Office mask slips. Is there anyone working for the Cabinet Office who isn't related to a Labour politician, or sleeping with a left-wing activist journalist?" adding "The reckoning for the Cabinet Office is approaching – all that which is concocted in darkness will be brought into the light."

Nadine Dorries said the Express's revelation "further confirms that the Cabinet Office is using its ties to anti-Tory activists to stitch Boris Johnson up" and said it "must have consequences".

"Transparently biased civil servants are clearly colluding with anyone they can to trash Boris's reputation and hoping no one will notice." adding "Given what the Express has now revealed, Harriet Harman should recuse herself from the Privileges Committee kangaroo court. Failing that the Committee must completely reject the information Mr Chisholm handed to them."

Tory MP Mark Jenkinson told the Express "The tentacles of the Cabinet Office branch of the Labour Party reach far and wide it seems".

"It is clear that the Cabinet Office is now too tainted to be able to serve the Government impartially. Case needs to get a grip of his civil service and start clearing out from the top."

The latest revelation comes after it was revealed that Sue Gray, who was instrumental in Boris Johnson's ousting, was in talks with Labour leader Keir Starmer to work for him.

The party-gate inquisitor also showed her political bias when objecting to current PM Rish Sunak vetoing Scotland's new trans law, which are set to make it easier for over 16s to change their sex on their birth certificate.

The proposition sparked a furious political row, with women's rights campaigners warning it would mean biologically male prisoners being present in female prisons, posing a potential risk to biologically female inmates.

Government insiders now claim Ms Gray actively tried to kill off the plan behind the scenes in late December, further displaying her role as a 'pro-Labour, anti-Tory activist'.

A source told The Sun that Gray directly contacted political advisers to lobby against the move, at the same time that she was in talks with Labour to become Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff.

A Government insider said "We know the use of Section 35 embarrassed Starmer by highlighting Scottish Labour's support of putting men in women's prisons. Given Sue had already lined up her Labour job, was she already working for him in the heart of Government and seeking to save his blushes?"

Gray's move to work for Starmer is on hold while it is probed by Whitehall appointments watchdog ACOBA, who are expected to announce their decision in the coming weeks.

If the decision goes against Gray, she could be barred from taking up her new job until after the next election.

Sue Gray Officially Starts New Job With Labour - And Is Already Helping Starmer Attack The Tories

Telling Labour staff that she "has their back" disgraced former civil servant bigwig Sue Gray has officially started work with the Labour Party.

After being ordered by a Whitehall watchdog to take a six-month break between jobs, Gray began her new role last week, and immediately begin helping to plot attacks on Tories, even potentially influencing Starmer's reshuffle.

Insiders have claimed that certain decisions, such as appointing Hilary Benn as the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, where Gray worked in the 1980s as a pub landlady, were heavily influenced by Gray herself.

Within moments of her arriving at Labour HQ, one of Westminster's most prolific photographers, Stefan Rousseau of the Press Association, was invited up to her office to take photographs. Gray posed with two green parliamentary chairs before heading out onto the balcony to continue her photoshoot.

Accompanied by Starmer and David Evans, the party's general secretary, Gray was then formally introduced to Labour HQ staff on Tuesday, with members of staff said to have been 'whooping and hollering' when Starmer introduced her in a short speech.

Gray then told over 100 staffers present "I will have your back."

After, Starmer, Gray and Evans walked around Labour HQ, located on Blackfriars Road, and spoke to staff members and different teams about their roles. "She was asking questions and listening to thoughts and ideas." one told the press.

Gray also sat in on the first meeting of the new shadow cabinet and is now understood to be 'settling well' into her new job.

Shortly before last week's PMQs, the former civil servant, who was caught lying that she was politically impartial, helped prepare Starmer for his counter-attacks on the government.

That morning, she was part of a group of aides who sat down with Starmer for the final prep session that always takes place in the run-up to the weekly debate in Parliament. Insiders told the press that "her instincts would prove invaluable at helping skewer Sunak across the dispatch box".

She now continues to get stuck in with her new position, including helping to coordinate and manage staff and advise Starmer on how best to attack the Conservative government.

Her appointment to the position was met with controversy – particularly over her leading of the 'partygate' report, with many claiming that joining the Labour party meant she had displayed 'anti-Boris' bias during the investigation.

After it was revealed that Gray had lied about not speaking to Starmer during the investigation, the Cabinet Office pushed for Gray to be barred from taking up the position for at least 18 months, pointing to the access she had to sensitive government secrets. In the end, a watchdog agreed that her appointment should be delayed by six months.

She is now working on drawing up plans to reform the civil service, should the Labour Party win next year's election.

In a case of so-called 'double-dipping', the former civil servant will receive an annual pension of between £85,000 and £90,000 now that she has quit Whitehall, along with her estimated £140,000 salary from Labour.

Former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg previously said her report, published in full last May, now looked like "a left-wing stitch-up".