Boris Johnson’s attempt to resume his presidency suffered another blow Wednesday night when his ethics adviser, Lord Hyde, left dramatically after admitting that the prime minister may have violated the ministerial code over the Partygate scandal.
In a statement issued Wednesday night, Hyde said: “I feel sorry for him that it is right to resign as an independent adviser to ministers.
The resignation, the second by an ethics adviser in less than two years, threatens to overshadow Johnson’s attempts to reject public outrage against Partygate and the ensuing vote of confidence by his own lawmakers last week.
A government spokesman said: “We are surprised by this decision, given Lord Hyde’s commitment to the role, to the Prime Minister and in his testimony before the House of Commons yesterday.
“This week, the independent adviser was asked to give advice on a sensitive trade issue of national interest, which previously had cross-party support. No decision was made pending this advice.
“Although we are disappointed, we thank Lord Hyde for his public service. We will appoint a new advisor in due course. “
Hyde’s predecessor, Alex Allen, resigned in November 2020 after the prime minister ignored his statement that Priti Patel had harassed government officials.
The king of ethics faced a heavy grill from an inter-party committee of deputies earlier this week, during which he acknowledged that it was “reasonable” to assume that Johnson may have violated the ministerial code – which includes a comprehensive obligation to acts in accordance with the law.
Understandably, the solid evidence session confirmed in Gade’s mind that his position was no longer resilient. One person who spoke to him said he was tired of being lied to, while another said Hyde was “disappointed” by his presentation as a “package.”
After what a friend called a “long night of the soul,” he sent a strongly worded letter to Johnson on Wednesday.
Serious violations of the code must lead to the resignation of the minister. Johnson is already facing an investigation by the House of Commons Privileges Committee into whether he violated it on another charge – misleading parliament on whether parties have broken up the blockade.
The main whip of the Liberal Democrats, MP Wendy Chamberlain, said: “When both of Boris Johnson’s ethics advisers have left, it is clear that he is the one to leave.
“For the good of Britain, the next resignation we need to hear about is that of Boris Johnson.
Deputy Labor leader Angela Raynor said: “The prime minister has now forced two of his own ethics advisers to resign in despair. If even they can’t defend his behavior at work, how can anyone believe he is fit to rule?
She added: “The man who has to leave number 10 tonight is Boris Johnson himself. How long does the country have to wait before Tory MPs finally do the right thing?
Geidt’s resignation came just as Johnson’s team was hoping to hear the latest from Partygate in a few months after he survived a no-confidence vote last week by Tory MPs.
His departure will raise new questions about how Johnson has behaved throughout the Partygate furor.
Rebel MPs, who hoped to oust him, failed to win last week’s vote, although 148, or 41%, did not support it. Now they are expecting a new impetus for action. If the Privileges Committee finds Johnson violating the code by lying to parliament, they can push for a change in party rules to allow a new vote.
In his annual report, published late last month, Hyde seems to have suggested that he deliberately did not recommend whether Johnson had violated the ministerial code because the prime minister – who oversees the system – could ignore it.
“If the Prime Minister considers that there is nothing to investigate or no case to respond to, he will be obliged to reject any such advice, thus forcing the resignation of the independent adviser. “Such a circular process could only risk putting the ministerial code in a place of ridicule,” he said.
At the committee’s hearing on Tuesday, Hyde stressed the fact that he is not independent of the prime minister, who makes the final decision on whether the ministerial code has been violated.
“The point there is that I am an asset of the prime minister as a minister of the crown, not as an adviser in a free orbit with a different source of power,” he told the Committee on Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs. “There is little limitation on the capacity of an independent adviser to be truly independent.”
Another observer, the Committee on Standards in Public Life, recently criticized Johnson for not giving Gade enough independence to do his job adequately.
The chairman of the committee, former MI5 chief Jonathan Evans, said it was “extremely unsatisfactory” that number 10 had not fully adopted the broad package of reforms recommended by his committee, and warned: “Suspicions about the way the ministerial code administer will be delayed. “
Johnson will now face the challenge of trying to hire a third ethics adviser. Labor MP Chris Bryant, chairman of the standards committee, who described Hyde as “perfectly decent”, said: “We were all wondering how the hell Boris would be able to replace the latter, and now who the hell is going to take over? If the Tories think the problem with standards will go away, I hope that will worry them.
Neither Hyde nor the cabinet intend to provide further explanation for his thinking, but he made it clear at Tuesday’s hearing that he did not enjoy the spotlight. A Whitehall source also suggests that he has become increasingly uncomfortable with the government’s approach to the rule of law.
His departure comes as the government prepares for two important by-elections next week in Wakefield and Tiverton.
If the Tories lose both seats, it will be widely read in Westminster as a signal that Johnson has become an obstacle to their electoral prospects, threatening some seats in the next general election.
Hyde took over after Alan’s resignation. He took the job, promising to meet the standards of the role, but was soon given the difficult task of deciding whether Johnson had violated the ministerial code on funding the renovation of Apartment 11 through a Tory donor.
Hyde acquitted Johnson, saying he believed the prime minister’s claims that he did not know where the money came from.
However, he showed the first signs of disappointment with his boss after it later became public that Johnson had failed to uncover important text messages from the donor, Lord Brownlow. Hyde wrote a letter criticizing Johnson for acting “unreasonably,” but clarified that he was deliberately misleading.
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