Downing Street shocked as Boris's ethics adviser Lord Geidt resigns after Partygate row

15 June 2022, 18:44 | Updated: 15 June 2022, 19:44

Boris Johnson's ethics adviser Lord Geidt has resigned.
Boris Johnson's ethics adviser Lord Geidt has resigned. Picture: Alamy

By Sophie Barnett

Boris Johnson's ethics adviser Lord Geidt has resigned following controversy over whether the Prime Minister broke the ministerial code.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Lord Geidt said it feels "right" to step down as the Prime Minister's independent adviser on the ministerial code.

"With regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning from my post as Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests," he said.

But his statement came as a shock to Downing Street, where a senior source said: "This is a total surprise. And a mystery to the PM.

"Only on Monday Lord Geidt asked if he could stay on for six months. And in hours of questioning in parliament yesterday there was no hint that he’d even considered resignation."

Just a day earlier, he declined to deny to MPs that he had considered resigning over Mr Johnson's response to being fined for breaching lockdown rules.

Mr Johnson was issued a fixed penalty notice (FPN) - along with his wife and Chancellor Rishi Sunak - over a birthday party thrown in his honour in the Cabinet Room in June 2020 - when indoor socialising was banned.

But in a letter to Lord Geidt, Mr Johnson said his judgment on why he did not break the rules for ministers included that there have been "past precedents of ministers who have unwittingly breached regulations where there was no intent to break the law".

Read more: Boris insists he did not break ministerial code as Lord Geidt questions his Partygate fine

Lord Geidt has resigned as PM's adviser

In his latest annual report, Lord Geidt said a "legitimate question" had arisen as to whether the case of the FPN might have constituted a breach of the "overarching duty within the Ministerial Code of complying with the law".

It was reported that Lord Geidt had threatened to quit last month after the publication of the Sue Gray report into lockdown breaches in Whitehall unless Mr Johnson issued a public explanation for his conduct.

Ben Kentish breaks down Lord Geidt resignation

Lord Geidt is the second person to resign as Mr Johnson's ethics adviser during his less than three years as Prime Minister.

Sir Alex Allan quit in 2020 after Mr Johnson refused to accept his finding that Home Secretary Priti Patel had bullied civil servants.

Mr Johnson has suffered a number of challenges to his leadership in recent weeks but has hung on as PM despite backlash from his own party.

Lord Geidt, Boris Johnson's independent adviser on the Ministerial Code, has resigned.
Lord Geidt, Boris Johnson's independent adviser on the Ministerial Code, has resigned. Picture: Alamy

Last week's bruising confidence vote revealed 41 per cent of Tories wanted him out of the job, with 148 of 359 MPs declaring they do not have confidence in him as leader.

Mr Johnson has since tried to move on from the Partygate scandal and has called for a "line to be drawn" after the bruising vote.

He urged his senior ministers to move on and push the "massive agenda" of Levelling Up investment.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Trump's aide Stephen Moore has said the UK should align itself with the US on trade rather than pursuing closer ties with the “socialist model” of the EU

Trump aide urges UK to embrace free market over 'socialist' EU - despite banking boss's call to 'rebuild relations'

The cow was airlifted out of a swimming pool

Udder chaos as pregnant cow lifted to safety by firefighters after falling into swimming pool

All Main Candidates For PM Address CBI Conference

Justin Welby's son breaks silence on former Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation following damning review into abuse

Malcolm X Speaking at Rally

Malcolm X's family files $100m wrongful death lawsuit against CIA, FBI and NYPD over assassination of civil rights icon

x

Baby at centre of legal battle over long-term care dies at Great Ormond Street after judge rules treatment should stop

U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill.

House speaker 'strongly' advises against releasing ethics report on Donald Trump's pick for attorney general Matt Gaetz

joelinton nufc

There’s ‘nothing valuable left’: Newcastle star Joelinton makes plea to burglars after latest break-in

Sara Sharif's father has denied her battered body was stripped and jetwashed in the garden as the family fled to Pakistan

Sara Sharif's father denies stripping her dead body naked and jetwashing it in back garden

Davina McCall 'out of surgery' and recovering following 'textbook' procedure following ‘very rare’ brain tumour diagnosis

Davina McCall 'out of surgery' and recovering following 'textbook' procedure after ‘very rare’ brain tumour diagnosis

Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor claims woman who said he 'battered and raped' her in hotel room 'moaned with pleasure'

The economy slowed between July and September, growing by just 0.1%, and shrank during September itself

Starmer admits UK's economic performance is 'not good enough' after economy shrinks in September

CCTV captured the moments before the fatal attack

WATCH: Moment before innocent teens are murdered in street machete attack in case of mistaken identity

London nightclub Heaven has license suspended over claims woman was raped by security staff

London nightclub Heaven has license suspended over claims woman was raped by 'a member of security staff'

Exclusive
The Government is fully rejecting calls to resentence inmates who are serving now-abolished sentences

Government rejects calls to resentence prisoners with no release date, as campaigners warn ministers have ‘blood on their hands’

The King has returned to the Royal Marines training base where he completed his helicopter pilot training 50 years ago

King returns to Royal Marines base 50 years after completing his helicopter training

Metropolitan Police officers found guilty of gross misconduct after accessing of files relating to the case of Sarah Everard.

Met police officer sacked as three guilty of gross misconduct over accessing Sarah Everard murder files