Boris Johnson's attempt to relaunch his premiership suffered a fresh blow last night when his ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, dramatically quit after conceding that the prime minister may have broken the ministerial code over the Partygate scandal.
In a statement released last night, Geidt said: "With regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning from my post as independent adviser on ministers' interests."
The resignation, the second by an ethics adviser in less than two years, threatens to overshadow Johnson's attempts to shrug off the outcry over Partygate and the subsequent confidence vote from his own MPs last week. Geidt's predecessor, Alex Allan, quit in November 2020 after Johnson ignored his finding that Priti Patel had bullied civil servants.
Geidt faced tough questions from a cross-party committee of MPs this week, during which he conceded it was "reasonable" to suggest Johnson may have broken the ministerial code - which includes an overarching duty to act in accordance with the law.
It is understood that the robust evidence session confirmed in Geidt's mind that his position was no longer tenable. One person who had spoken to him said he was "sick of being lied to". Another said Geidt was "frustrated" at his portrayal as a "patsy".
After what one friend called a "long night of the soul", Geidt sent a strongly worded letter to Johnson yesterday.
Serious breaches of the code are meant to lead to the minister's resignation. Johnson is already facing an investigation by the House of Commons privileges committee over whether he broke it on another count - by misleading parliament about whether lockdown-busting parties had taken place. The Liberal Democrat chief whip, Wendy Chamberlain, said: "When both of Boris Johnson's own ethics advisers have quit, it is obvious that he is the one who needs to go.
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