Ah Gavin Williamson – the man with more lives than Larry the Cat. Having been sacked as Defence Secretary for alleged leaking in 2019, then sacked again as Education Secretary for poor performance in 2021, Williamson is now facing his third dismissal in three years following fresh claims about his conduct. On Friday it emerged that the former Chief Whip had sent expletive-laden texts to his successor Wendy Morton concerning unfounded claims that she had excluded him from attending the Queen’s funeral at Westminster. Tortoise reported that a formal complaint had been made about Williamson’s behaviour; a story that was followed up two days later in the Sunday Times which published those texts in full.
Now this morning’s Times claims that Williamson separately made a ‘tacit threat’ to an MP who is now a minister over her ‘private life’ while a second MP has given CCHQ evidence of Williamson’s conduct towards her. Former party chair Jake Berry has issued a statement saying he told Rishi Sunak of the complaint before they entered No. 10. Sunak for his part has done an interview with the Sun saying that the texts ‘were not acceptable or right’ claiming he was aware of a ‘disagreement’ but not the details of the exchange. Sunak also refused to back Williamson to keep his job, saying that ‘there’s a process happening, it’s right to let that conclude. It’s not acceptable.’ With statements like that, it doesn’t look too good for the former fireplace salesman.
Sacked by May, dismissed by Johnson, overlooked by Truss and fired by Sunak too? At least Sir Gav offers a model of consistency in a government famed for its instability…
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