He submitted his resignation to Boris Johnson, according to a brief statement on the government website on Wednesday night. “With regret, I feel it is right to resign from my position as Independent Adviser to the Ministers’ Interests,” the statement said. A senior source at Number 10 said Lord Geidt’s resignation was “an absolute surprise” and “a mystery” to Mr Johnson. “Only on Monday did Lord Geidt ask if he could stay for six months,” the source added. Last month, Lord Geidt said there was a “reasonable question” as to whether the prime minister had violated the ministerial code after being fined for a birthday party in the cabinet in June 2020, when indoors were banned. . In his annual report, the ethics adviser said: “In the case of the recent sentencing notice given to the Prime Minister by the Prime Minister, a reasonable question has arisen as to whether these facts alone could constitute duty within the Ministerial Code of Law enforcement “. On Tuesday, Lord Geidt refused to deny MPs that he had considered resigning over Mr Johnson’s response to being punished for breaking the lockdown rules in the midst of the scandal. Lord Gide told the Committee on Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs that he was “disappointed” by the lockdown collapse that took place on Downing Street and across Whitehall. “I am glad that the prime minister was able to respond to my report and in this way he dealt with aspects of things for which I was clearly disappointed,” he told the committee. “Resignation is one of the rather crude but few tools the counselor has. I’m glad my frustrations were handled the way they were.” Mr Johnson has repeatedly said he did not violate the ministerial code. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:12 The prime minister told Mumsnet he was “surprised and taken aback” when he received the prescribed penalty alert from police investigating parties that broke down lockdowns on Downing Street during the pandemic. “With regard to the sentence imposed for my presence in the Cabinet on 19 June 2020, I believe that, given all the circumstances, I did not violate the Code,” he wrote in a reply letter to Lord Geidt in May. . It was previously reported that Lord Geidt had threatened to resign following the publication of the Sue Gray report if the Prime Minister did not publicly explain his actions. Lord Gide is the second person to resign as Johnson’s ethics adviser in less than three years as prime minister. Sir Alex Allan resigned in 2020 after Johnson refused to accept his finding that Home Secretary Pretty Patel had intimidated civil servants. Labor Vice President Angela Reiner wondered how one could believe the prime minister was “capable of governing”. “The prime minister has now led both of his chosen ethics advisers to resign in despair. If even they can not defend his behavior in power, how can one believe he is capable of governing?” she said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the Conservative Party, which is mired in confusion and completely incapable of dealing with the cost-of-living crisis facing the British people, remains in place. “The person who should leave No. 10 tonight is Boris Johnson himself. How long does the country have to wait before the Tory MPs finally do the right thing?” Labor’s Chris Bryant, chairman of the Standards and Privileges Committees, added that the prime minister should resign, not Lord Gide. “Christopher Gide is one of the most honorable men I have ever met,” he wrote on social media. “After all, he was a decent man who worked for an obscene prime minister. “He believed that he could discreetly bring about a gradual change, but he was repeatedly lied to by Number 10. “In honor, Johnson must resign.” Legal activist Gina Miller was one of the first to react to Lord Gide’s resignation on social media, writing on Twitter: “Finally! Earlier this year, the Prime Minister was criticized by Lord Geidt for a formal inquiry into the renovation of his Downing Street apartment for failing to reveal the messages he had exchanged with a Tory peer who had initially paid for the renovations. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:52 pm Sorry for the refresh messages Lord Gide said he had “insufficient” respect for his role. Mr Johnson offered a “humble and sincere apology” to Lord Gide on the matter. Last year, Lord Geidt found that the prime minister had not violated the ministerial code on renovation.
