Lord Christopher Geidt became the second ethics adviser to resign on Wednesday as Boris Johnson’s prime minister, a day after expressing his “frustration” over the “partygate” affair.
Geidt’s resignation took Downing Street by surprise, and his departure will raise further questions about Johnson’s conduct and the general standards of his administration.
The councilor said this week that it was “reasonable” to conclude that the prime minister had breached the ministerial code on Covid-19 blockade parties. He set out his reasons for quitting in a private letter to Johnson.
Geidt’s predecessor, Sir Alex Allan, resigned in November 2020 after Johnson failed to act after publishing a critical report on alleged harassment by Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Number 10 experts said Geidt’s resignation was “a total surprise” and that only this week he had indicated that he would like to continue working for another six months.
On Wednesday, after weeks of speculation that he was about to resign, Geidt resigned, announcing his decision in a concise statement shortly before 7 p.m.
In the announcement made by the government, he said: “Unfortunately, I think it is right for me to resign as an independent adviser to the interests of ministers.”
A government spokesman on Wednesday night expressed “disappointment”, but added that this week Geidt had been asked “to advise on a commercially sensitive issue in the national interest”.
No further details were given – nor did it contribute to Geidt’s resignation – but the spokesman added that “no decision had been taken pending this advice”.
Geidt’s departure will once again focus on Johnson’s conduct on Downing Street, a week after he survived a vote of confidence among Conservative MPs by 211 votes to 148.
The adviser, a former private secretary to Queen Elizabeth, was hired by Johnson in April 2021 and lasted just over a year at work. He told lawmakers laughing this week that it had been an “exceptionally busy” year.
Geidt’s first job was to investigate funding for Johnson’s 10th floor renovation. He was criticized for not being thorough enough to investigate the Prime Minister’s assertion that he did not know the funding came from a Conservative donor. .
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Asked by the Commons public administration committee on Tuesday, Geidt acknowledged, “How can I defeat the impression that it’s a welcoming and insufficiently independent relationship? It’s very hard. But I’m doing my best to work with what I have.”
He described himself as an “asset of the Prime Minister.
In the end, job tensions and public criticism of him – some media reports portrayed him as a “puppet” – seem to have taken their toll.
Geidt had said it was “reasonable” to suggest that Johnson may have breached the ministerial code when he was fined during the party scandal. He demanded a statement from Johnson to explain his conduct and the Prime Minister cleared himself of any breaches.
He told lawmakers that “the normal man or woman” could have concluded that Johnson had broken the code, given that he had received a fixed penalty notice. The code requires ministers to comply with the law.
Geidt suggested that he warn Johnson that he would resign if he did not explain his behavior: were “.
Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labor Party, said: “The Prime Minister has now made the two hand-picked ethics advisers resign in despair. someone who is fit to govern?
Lord Nick Macpherson, a former permanent secretary of the Treasury, said it was difficult to see any credible figures offering to take on the role of Geidt as it is currently set up.
“Even if the powers of the ethics adviser are increased, the system is only as strong as the prime minister’s commitment to high standards,” he said on Twitter.