Sir Gavin said the allegations against him were ‘becoming a distraction’ (Pictures: Reuters/Twitter)
Sir Gavin Williamson has resigned after further allegations of ‘shocking’, ‘threatening’ and ‘intimidating’ behaviour were made by a former government colleague.
The former Cabinet Office minister said he had decided to ‘step back from Government’ while the complaints process into his conduct is carried out, vowing to ‘clear my name of any wrongdoing’.
It follows allegations he sent expletive-laden messages to former chief whip Wendy Morton complaining about being refused an invitation to the Queen’s funeral, claims he told a senior civil servant to ‘slit your throat’ and on another occasion to ‘jump out of the window’, and an accusation of ‘unethical and immoral’ behaviour while he was chief whip.
Sir Gavin said there was an ongoing complaints process ‘concerning text messages I sent to a colleague’ – a reference to Ms Morton’s complaint.
‘I am complying with this process and I have apologised to the recipient for those messages,’ he said.
‘Since then, there have been other allegations made about my past conduct. I refute the characterisation of these claims, but I recognise these are becoming a distraction for the good work this Government is doing for the British people.
‘I have therefore decided to step back from Government so that I can comply fully with the complaints process that is underway and clear my name of any wrongdoing.’
Ex-Conservative MP Anne Milton, deputy chief whip when Sir Gavin was chief whip between July 2016 and November 2017, said Sir Gavin collected ‘salacious gossip’ about MPs’ ‘sexual preferences’ to potentially hold against them.
She also accused him of using MPs’ mental and physical health problems as ‘leverage’.
Speaking to Channel 4 News on Tuesday night, Ms Milton said Sir Gavin agreed for her to hand over a cheque to an MP experiencing financial difficulties – but instructed her: ‘Make sure when you give him this cheque, he knows I now own him.’
More: News
She added: ‘I don’t think it was a joke. It was the seriousness with which he said it. And I think that the bottom line is, if instances accord with your overall experience with somebody, then you believe them.’
Ms Milton said she gave the MP the cheque but did not pass on Sir Gavin’s message.
She described Sir Gavin as showing an ‘unethical and immoral’ and ‘shocking’ manner when they worked together in the whips’ office – and said his behaviour in the role was ‘threatening’ and ‘intimidating’, adding: ‘It’s an image he cultivates.
‘I think he feels that he’s Francis Urquhart from House of Cards.’
She added: ‘I got the impression that he loved salacious gossip, and would use it as leverage against MPs if the need arose.’
Ms Milton said it included ‘people’s sexual preferences, that sort of thing’, adding: ‘He loved all that. He would come into the office and say, “guess who enjoys, you know, some form of sex or another”.
‘I found it very distasteful apart from anything.’
And she recalled being shocked by an email from him in 2016 in response to a female civil servant’s inquiry about why a minister had to change travel plans to attend a vote.
He allegedly wrote: ‘Always tell them to f*** off and if they have the bollocks to come and see me. F***ing jumped up civil servants.’
Williamson: Tarantula-loving political plotter never far from controversy
Sir Gavin Williamson’s political career has not been short of controversy.
His recent return to Government as a Cabinet Office minister raised eyebrows in Westminster, where he is viewed with suspicion by many Tory MPs thanks to his long-standing reputation as an inveterate plotter and a master of parliamentary ‘dark arts’.
The former fireplace manufacturing firm managing director’s last stint in Government ended badly, when he faced repeated criticism over his handling of disruption to schools during the pandemic and the fiasco around grading of GCSE and A-level students amid cancelled exams.
Born and raised in Scarborough, Sir Gavin went to a local comprehensive school and sixth-form college before studying at the University of Bradford.
His state school background was not enough to win over many teachers, students and parents during the Covid-19 pandemic, which dominated his time in office and led to a series of U-turns.
Sir Gavin became known as an inveterate plotter and a master of parliamentary ‘dark arts’ (Picture: Reuters)
In summer 2020, he faced calls to resign over the A-level and GCSE results row after the Government was forced into a U-turn following protests over the downgrading of thousands of results.
Sir Gavin also received criticism over the recovery plan to help pupils catch up and confusion around children returning to class amid Covid-19.
He also faced calls to step down amid criticism of inadequate free school meal provision for pupils, and again after the schools catch-up tsar resigned over the Government’s £1.4 billion education recovery fund.
Before his time at the Department for Education, he became known for a tendency to put his foot in his mouth as defence secretary.
At the height of the furore over the Salisbury Novichok attack in March 2018, Sir Gavin urged Russia to ‘go away and shut up’.
He was sacked as defence secretary in May 2019 following an inquiry into the leak of information from a National Security Council meeting about Chinese telecoms firm Huawei’s involvement in the development of the UK’s 5G mobile network. Sir Gavin denied being the source of the leak.
Before this, he had been a vital part of Theresa May’s inner circle after being appointed her chief whip when she took office in July 2016.
He was knighted at Boris Johnson’s request earlier this year (Picture: Reuters)
As a whip, he was best known in Westminster for keeping a pet tarantula named Cronus in a glass box on his desk, which is said to have provided added menace when dealing with errant MPs.
Those whipping skills were put to good use in recent months, as Sir Gavin – knighted at Boris Johnson’s request earlier this year – took on a key role in Mr Sunak’s summer campaign to become Tory leader as he sought to win over his parliamentary colleagues.
His fortunes rose alongside those of Mr Sunak, as the collapse of Liz Truss’s chaotic administration brought a clutch of old faces back into Government under the current Prime Minister.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
He said the allegations against him were ‘becoming a distraction for the good work this government is doing’.
