A decision which comes after a series of revelations concerning messages of insults and threats that he would have sent.
British Minister Gavin Williamson announced his resignation from the new Conservative government on Tuesday evening after accusations of behavior “immoraland sending inappropriate messages to MPs and former colleagues. “As you know, there is an ongoing complaint procedure regarding the messages I sent to a colleague”wrote Gavin Williamson, Minister of State without Portfolio, in a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and shared on Twitter.
“Other charges have been made” and “they become a distraction for the good work of this government”, he added before announcing that he was retiring. His resignation – the first of the new Conservative government formed two weeks ago – comes after a series of revelations about insulting and threatening messages he allegedly sent.
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In particular, he would have insulted by email the former “whip” (responsible for the discipline of Conservative MPs) Wendy Morton to complain about not having been invited to the funeral of Elizabeth II. Others accuse him of harassment when he was in the Ministry of Defense and behaviors “immoral” when he himself was “whip”. According to his former deputy whip Anne Milton, he would have used the financial difficulties of a deputy as a means of pressure.
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Describing his behavior as “unethical and immoral”she claimed on Channel 4 that she had “the impression that he liked dirty gossip, and that he used it as a means of pressure if necessary”. According to other accusers, Gavin Williamson made violent remarks towards an official when he was at the Ministry of Defense, telling him to “cut the throat” and of “jump out the window”.
The Prime Minister’s Office, the Conservative Party and the Harassment Committee in Parliament have opened investigations. The appointment of Gavin Williamson, 46, in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet had already raised questions as the character divides. Gavin Williamson had already been sacked twice from governments, first under Theresa May due to leaked documents and then under Boris Johnson during the pandemic. Above all, Rishi Sunak would have been informed upstream of accusations against the minister, arousing criticism from the opposition. Rishi Sunak, who repeated on Tuesday his confidence in his minister, indicated in the evening that he accepted his resignation “with great sadness» but that he “understood”.