Paul Gray is no stranger to how quickly careers can crumble. He was Economic Affairs Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher from 1988 until she was ousted as Conservative leader in 1990.

Mr Gray, who is married with two sons, was promoted to acting chairman of HMRC from his position as deputy chairman just over a year ago. He was officially named as chairman in February this year.

It has not been a happy time at HMRC, which announced that it was to cut 12,500 jobs after the Inland Revenue merged with HM Customs in 2005.

Staff went on strike over job cuts at the end of January, throwing the self-assessment deadline into chaos.

Mr Gray also came in for personal criticism earlier this year when it emerged that his salary rose by twice the rate of inflation. His paypacket in the year to April 2007 rose by by 6 per cent to between £165,000 and £170,000.

A career bureaucrat, Mr Gray started his working life in the Treasury in 1969. He left the Civil Service briefly in the late 1970s and spent two years working as a corporate planner with Booker McConnell Ltd, a catering wholesalers. After his return to the Treasury he worked on agriculture, industry and employment issues and co-ordinated the Public Expenditure Survey process.

After his sojourn working for Mrs Thatcher, he returned to the Treasury, and spent three years working on monetary policy, serving as a member of the EU Monetary Committee. He joined the Department of Social Security (DSS) in 1998 and helped create the new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by merging the DSS with the Employment Service and parts of the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE).

He was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Inland Revenue and of Customs and Excise in 2004, and named as Deputy Chairman of the new, joint HMRC in 2005.

In his spare time, Mr Gray keeps a small flock of Wensleydale sheep.

If he is hoping to take comfort from his newfound leisure, he may be disappointed. Mr Gray describes himself as "A long-suffering supporter of Leicester City FC." The football team, which is 17th in the Coca Cola championship, has been having top-level problems of its own recently. It is now looking for a new manager.

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