Just two weeks into the new year and Keir Starmer has suffered his first ministerial resignation of 2025. Tulip Siddiq has resigned from her role as the economic secretary to the Treasury, following an investigation by the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus into corruption claims. Magnus was tasked to look into allegations surrounding Siddiq’s links to properties linked to her aunt, who was recently deposed as Bangladesh’s prime minister following an uprising against her two-decade long leadership.
In a letter to Keir Starmer, Magnus concludes that Siddiq did not break the ministerial code. However, he goes on to say that it is ‘regrettable’ the Labour politician was not ‘more alert’ to the ‘potential reputational risks’. As a result, Magnus says Siddiq ought to ‘consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this’. Right on cue, Siddiq has done just this and stepped down on the grounds that ‘continuing in my role as economic secretary to the Treasury is likely to be a distraction from the work of government’.
In a way, this news is rather unsurprising. Within the Labour party, it was largely seen as a matter of when, not if Siddiq would resign. The story has been bubbling away for some time but ratcheted up at the weekend when Bangladesh’s new leader, Muhammad Yunus, told the Sunday Times that Siddiq should apologise over reports she had lived in London properties with links to her aunt. What’s more, it was becoming clear that her position was untenable given part of her brief was anti-corruption, and she was facing questions linked to a corruption scandal overseas. Add to that the fact that Siddiq was meant to accompany Reeves to China last week but cancelled, and it’s clear she was unable to carry out the basics of her job as a result of the row.
So, what does this mean for Starmer, Siddiq and the Treasury? Her successor has already been announced in the form of Emma Reynolds, the experienced Labour MP. However, that appointment is already raising some eyebrows as the Labour government looks for closer ties with China. Before the 2024 election, Reynolds is reported to have worked as a lobbyist trying to keep China out of the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme. With Reynolds moving from her previous post from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 2024-intake member Torsten Bell, formerly at the Resolution Foundation, has been promoted to parliamentary secretary in the Treasury and under-secretary in DWP. During his time at the Resolution Foundation, Bell recommended a range of tax changes such as scrapping the 5p cut in fuel duty. ‘He’s definitely one of the tall poppies of the 2024 intake’, says a colleague.
Some on the Labour left have been quick to point out that Siddiq was allowed to stay in her role longer than Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary, who resigned the day after reports over alleged phone fraud were published in the paper. Notably Starmer makes clear in his letter to Siddiq that he would like to see her back in his government – the same suggestion was not made to Haigh. This is put down to a few factors. First, there is more warmth in No. 10 towards Siddiq than Haigh, who was seen as an odd fit in the cabinet. Second, Siddiq is a constituency neighbour to Starmer in London and there are close links between the party to the Awami League, the party Siddiq’s aunt led. However, in the end the story proved too big to ignore.
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