Gavin Williamson has been reported to Parliament’s bullying watchdog over abusive messages to a colleague. Leaked messages show Tory minister Williamson threatening ex-chief whip Wendy Morton and accusing her of excluding some MPs from the Queen’s funeral.
A series of messages sent by Williamson to Ms Morton were published on Sunday. In them, he appears to complain MPs who were not “favoured” by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss were being excluded from the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. He accused Ms Morton of “rigging” the ticket allocation to punish people - including himself - who were not supportive enough of Ms Truss. Williamson reportedly warned Ms Morton “not to push him about” and that “there is a price for everything”.
Williamson was appointed Minister without Portfolio on the first day of Mr Sunak’s premiership. His current governmental responsibilities are not clear. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the language Sir Gavin used was “not acceptable”, but No 10 insisted he still has confidence in him.
Last month, Ms Morton sent the messages to the Conservative Party after making a formal complaint about Williamson’s behaviour. On Tuesday, she referred Williamson to Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).
Sir Gavin Williamson was brought back into government by Mr Sunak, after helping run the prime minister’s leadership campaign. The former architectural design firm director, 46, had served as defence secretary under Theresa May and education secretary under Boris Johnson, and was sacked from both roles.
Williamson was Defence Secretary between 2017 and 2019 under Theresa May, until he was forced to resign after details of Huawei’s potential involvement in the UK’s 5G network were leaked.
By all accounts, Williamson is a nasty piece of work:
Williamson is widely feared in Johnson’s inner circle because of his time as chief whip, when he is said to have collected a “black book” of secrets. During this period, he kept a pet tarantula on his desk called Cronus that was used to intimidate Conservative MPs.
In 2021, 388 people contacted the ICGS’s helpline for advice, 293 in 2019–2020 and 285 in 2018–2019. In 2021, 48 investigations were carried out. The investigations were criticised for taking too long in a 2021 report by HR director Alison Stanley. The average time for an investigation to be concluded was 196 days
I read through that link. Maybe I’ve missed something while skimming, but I haven’t seen anything suggesting they can do anything such as dismiss anyone from post. Hopefully I’m wrong. Although I can’t recall anyone who has lost their job as an MP due to the committee giving them the sack.
It must have cost a fortune to devise and document the procedures but they’re so expansive that I can find only oblique references to “discipline”, which seems to consist of admonishment and possible suspension.
We’ve all seen and read about resignations at times, and no doubt de-selection by local constituencies may take place. There may well have been cases of withdrawal.of the whip. But it beggars belief that actual instantaneous dismissal seems nigh on impossible.
Wimpy MP’ s wimpy Civil servants, am weary of these endless complaints, when the country needs strong leadership, cannot say on this forum what I am thinking, just wish…Stop behaving immaturely.
I get sworn at a lot in the course of my job, by the public, not colleagues! Well, sometimes colleagues but that’s a separate issue
And my technique is always the same, full headmistress mode ……
“I am trying to help you, but if you swear at me again, I’m going to end this conversation/phone call and you’ll have to contact me again when you can control your language”
Winds them up like hell of course, they usually curse me again, which gives me an excuse to cut them off, Win! Win!
She should have said something similar, told him he’d get no reply until he could keep a civil tongue in his head and then reported his ass anyway
On 1 May 2019, Williamson was asked to resign from his position as Defence Secretary, following the leaking of confidential National Security Council
He refused to resign because he felt this would incriminate him and be seen as an admission that he was responsible for the leak, and was therefore sacked.
Theresa May said that she had “compelling evidence” that Williamson had leaked the information and that she had “lost confidence in his ability to serve in his role”.
Williamson then worked to support Boris Johnson’s Leadership Campaign and landed himself another job in the Cabinet when Boris became PM.
He got sacked from that job in 2021, after he screwed up,
then he helps in Sunak’s Leadership Campaign - and, Lo and Behold!, he gets another Cabinet position from Rishi Sunak - who obviously wants to reward him but doesn’t trust him to do a proper job, so he gave him “Minister Without Portfolio”
In my view, if a Cabinet Minister gets sacked for a serious breach, like leaking confidential information, I wouldn’t give them another job in the Cabinet.
In most jobs, if you screw up badly enough to get sacked, your employer doesn’t often employ you in another senior role and give you a 2nd and Third Chance!
Sir Gavin Williamson has resigned as a government minister after allegations of bullying, saying he aims to clear himself of "any wrongdoing”. Williamson said he “refuted” how his conduct had been characterised. However, he added that the claims were becoming a “distraction” from the government’s “good work”.
In his resignation letter, he said he was leaving government with “real sadness” but offered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak his “full and total support from the backbenches”.
In reply, Mr Sunak said he accepted his resignation “with great sadness” and thanked Sir Gavin for his “personal support and loyalty”. “Your commitment to successive Conservative governments and the party over the years has been unwavering.”
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: "This is yet another example of Rishi Sunak’s poor judgement and weak leadership. “As families struggle during a cost-of-living crisis made in Downing Street, yet another Tory government has descended into chaos.”
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: "Rishi Sunak has serious questions to answer about why he appointed Gavin Williamson, then stood by him instead of sacking him. “His promise to lead a government of integrity has now been left in tatters.”
Since he had no portfolio then I guess there’s no need for him to be replaced …
Former cabinet minister Sir Gavin Williamson has been told to apologise after an parliamentary inquiry found he had bullied a colleague in texts.
Sir Gavin quit as a minister last year after sending expletive-laden texts to former Tory chief whip Wendy Morton. In the texts, Sir Gavin accused Ms Morton of excluding some MPs from the Queen’s funeral in September last year. He sent the texts in the run-up to the funeral and Ms Morton lodged a complaint with Parliament in November.
In a report published on Monday, an independent panel commissioned by Parliament found Sir Gavin committed a breach of the bullying and harassment policy. It concluded that Sir Gavin’s conduct was an abuse of power, finding that it had gone beyond vigorous complaint or political disagreement to a threat to lever his power and authority as a former chief whip to undermine Ms Morton personally.
The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) has required him to make an apology in the House of Commons and undergo training. Sir Gavin accepted this decision.
Ms Morton - a close ally of former Prime Minister Liz Truss - told the BBC she was “satisfied” with the outcome of the investigation.
An apology is little enough but, at least, honour (or, at least, Ms Morton) is satisfied …
