Lord Christopher Geidt on Wednesday became the second ethics adviser to quit under Boris Johnson’s premiership, a day after expressing his “frustration” over the “partygate” affair.
Geidt’s resignation caught Downing Street by surprise and his departure will raise further questions over Johnson’s conduct and overall standards in his administration.
The adviser said this week it was “reasonable” to conclude the prime minister had breached the ministerial code over Covid-19 lockdown parties. He set out his reasons for quitting in a private letter to Johnson. Geidt’s predecessor, Sir Alex Allan, quit in November 2020 after Johnson failed to act after he published a critical report on alleged bullying by Priti Patel, home secretary.
Number 10 insiders said Geidt’s resignation had been “a total surprise” and that he had indicated only this week that he would like to continue in the job for another six months. On Wednesday, after weeks of speculation that he was on the brink of resignation, Geidt quit, announcing his decision in a terse statement shortly before 7pm.
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In the announcement released by the government, he said: “With regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning from my post as independent adviser on ministers’ interests.” A government spokesman expressed “disappointment” on Wednesday night but added that Geidt had been asked this week “to provide advice on a commercially sensitive matter in the national interest”.
Questioned by the Commons public administration committee on Tuesday, Geidt acknowledged: “How can I defeat the impression that it’s a cosy, insufficiently independent relationship? It’s very hard.
But I’m trying my best to work with what I’ve got.” He described himself as an “an asset of the prime minister . . . rather than a free-orbiting adviser”, even though he felt Johnson had given him new powers to initiate his own investigations.
In the end, the strains of the job and the public criticism of him — some media reports portrayed him as “a stooge” — appear to have taken their toll.
Geidt had said it was “reasonable” to suggest Johnson may have breached the ministerial code when he was fined during the partygate scandal. He demanded a statement from Johnson to explain his conduct and the prime minister cleared himself of any breach. Sourch: Financial Times
