Tulip Siddiq’s resignation was a matter of when, not if

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’.