Why Sue Gray will be key to Labour's Council of the Nations and Regions meeting in Scotland being worthwhile

Setting up the new council was a key manifesto pledge from Sir Keir Starmer. But we still don’t know the details on what the summits can actually achieve and whether they will simply be a more structured forum for disputes to be mulled over.

READ MORE: What is Sir Keir Starmer's Council of Nations and Regions and will it improve Scottish Government relations?

More drama has been thrown into the mix ahead of Friday’s Edinburgh meeting, with Sir Keir’s now-former chief of staff, Sue Gray, taking up a role as an “envoy” for the council. That role, which did not exist before her dramatic departure from Sir Keir’s top team last week, raises questions over what her role will be in relations between Scotland’s two governments.

Before Ms Gray rose to fame for her investigation into the ‘Partygate’ shambles, she played a key role in organising the Ukrainian visa scheme between Scotland’s two governments. She was seen as a key co-ordinator as a civil servant when the Tory Scotland Office was trying to ignore former first minister Nicola Sturgeon over Scotland having a different scheme.

Ms Gray has history of helping relations between Scotland’s two governments - but we will have to wait and see whether she will play an active role in matters going forward.

It is not yet clear what can be achieved from Labour’s new council. The mood music since Labour won the general election has been a positive and more grown-up relationship between Holyrood and Westminster. We don’t yet know if that can continue amid a frankly dire financial situation.

John Swinney has been open that he is pleased with the much-improved relationship and attitude from the Labour government at Westminster compared to its Tory predecessors.

The First Minister has made clear that he does not want to toe the line of devolution - his government having lost legal challenges over embedding children’s rights into Scots law and the now-defunct gender recognition reforms.

Instead, Mr Swinney is keen to work in lockstep with UK ministers for what appears on the face of it to be shared policy objectives, including the deposit return scheme, with the Labour Welsh government left as fizzing as SNP and Green ministers over the Conservative attitude to the policy.

The First Minister has also pointed to working in partnership with Westminster to bring forward a complete ban on conversion therapy and human rights legislation.

The root of the Council of the Nations and Regions emerged in Gordon Brown’s commission on the UK’s future, which suggested it would be a “new and powerful institution to drive co-operation between all its governments” and would have “a focus on co-ordinating economic development”.

Friday’s first meeting in Edinburgh will focus on investment and growth, with Downing Street stressing the gathering will be a key moment to show all parts of the UK are collectively playing their part.

But it is hard not to see Mr Swinney and his counterparts in other devolved nations and regions making starkly clear that investment and growth will need additional public funding form Westminster.

Without something concrete coming out of Friday’s summit, the opening council meeting risks being overshadowed by a funding row - just like the old days.