There's a lot resting on the shoulders of civil servant Sue Gray this week.
Yesterday, we watched with baited breath while the Prime Minster faced questions in parliament over his whereabouts on May 20 2020; whether he was or wasn't at a party at his home and whether he did or didn't know about it.
But it was Sue Gray who stood between the questions and the answers as the PM deflected enquiries using her as a metaphorical human shield; he told us we must wait for the outcome of her investigation before we can discuss anything further.
The name Sue Gray has become almost Jackie Weaver-esq in the public lexicon this week.
But *whispers it* who is Sue Gray?
What does she do?
And why is this mysterious woman we've never heard of suddenly the most important person in the country?
Well, The Jeremy Vine Show phone lines were jumping this morning with callers rushing to give their views on yesterday's Johnson apology but all our threads of thought remain frustratingly unresolved due to the ongoing investigation by Sue Gray, which we're hearing so much about but, to be honest, can't quite picture.
Helpfully, though, Jeremy's co-host Storm Huntley was ready with a large picture of Sue and some much needed information.
Here's what we now know:
1. She's a top civil servant
2. She's worked for Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and David Cameron
3. She was married to a country and western singer, Bill Conlon
4. She briefly ran a pub called The Cove Bar in the 1980s
5. She ran the enquiry into Plebgate
6. And the one into Damien Green
7. An MP once described her as "Deputy God"
8. And another said: "Our great United Kingdom is actually entirely run by a lady called Sue Gray. Nothing movies in Whitehall unless Sue says so."
Twitter is also using Sue Gray as a banterous-buffer to consequences at the moment with one user tweeting a photo of their dog up to no good with the caption: "Reggie will make no comment on this photo until Sue Gray has concluded her investigation…".
