Sue Gray announces citizen’s juries that will ‘bypass Whitehall’

Labour is drawing up plans to bypass Whitehall by using “citizens’ assemblies” to make key decisions, Sue Gray, the chief of staff to Sir Keir Starmer, has ­announced.

Gray, who is in charge of the party’s preparations for government, said in her first interview in the role that plans were being worked on to involve the public directly in deciding contentious issues such as constitutional reform, devolution and where new houses should be built.

She cited the “transformational” success of citizens’ juries in Ireland that had built consensus for constitutional changes including ending the ban on abortion and allowing gay marriage. But she said acknowledged that the plans were likely to face resistance from her former civil service colleagues, saying: “Whitehall will not like this