Lord Christopher Hyde on Wednesday became the second ethics adviser to step down as prime minister of Boris Johnson, a day after expressing his “disappointment” with the partygate affair.
Hyde’s resignation came as a surprise to Downing Street, and his departure will raise additional questions about Johnson’s behavior and general standards in his administration.
The adviser said this week that it was “reasonable” to conclude that the prime minister had violated the ministerial code over Covid-19 blocking parties. He explained the reasons for his departure in a private letter to Johnson.
Hyde’s predecessor, Sir Alex Allen, left in November 2020 after Johnson took no action after publishing a critical report on the alleged harassment by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary.
Insiders number 10 said Hyde’s resignation was a “complete surprise” and that he had only indicated this week that he would like to continue working for another six months.
On Wednesday, after weeks of speculation that he was on the verge of resignation, Hyde resigned, announcing his decision in a brief statement shortly before 7 p.m.
In a statement issued by the government, he said: “I feel sorry that it is right for him to resign as an independent adviser to ministers.
A government spokesman on Wednesday night expressed “disappointment”, but added that Hyde had been asked this week to “give advice on a commercially sensitive issue of national interest”.
No further details were given on what the issue was – or whether he had contributed to Hyde’s resignation – but the spokesman added that “no decision has been taken pending this advice”.
Hyde’s departure will shift attention to Johnson’s behavior on Downing Street, a week after he survived a vote of confidence in Tory MPs with 211 votes to 148.
The adviser, former personal secretary to Queen Elizabeth, was appointed by Johnson in April 2021 and lasted just over a year. He told lawmakers to laugh this week that the year was “extremely busy”.
Hyde’s first task was to investigate the financing of Johnson’s renovation of his apartment number 10. He was criticized for not being thorough enough in investigating the prime minister’s claim that he did not know that the funding came from a Tory donor.
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Asked by the municipality’s Public Administration Committee on Tuesday, Hyde admitted: “How can I overcome the impression that this is a cozy, insufficiently independent relationship? It is very difficult. But I try to work with what I have. ”
He described himself as “an asset of the Prime Minister. . . not an adviser in free orbit, ”although he believed Johnson had given him new powers to launch his own investigations.
In the end, tensions at work and public criticism of him – some media reports portrayed him as an “assistant” – seem to have taken their toll.
Hyde said it was “reasonable” to assume that Johnson may have violated the ministerial code when he was fined during the party scandal. He asked Johnson for a statement to explain his behavior, and the prime minister cleared himself of any wrongdoing.
He told lawmakers that the “ordinary man or woman” may have concluded that Johnson had violated the code, given that he had received notice of a fixed sanction. The code requires ministers to abide by the law.
Hyde suggested that he had warned Johnson that he would leave if he did not explain his behavior: “Resignation is one of the dumb but few tools a counselor has. I’m glad my disappointments were addressed the way they were. “
Angela Raynor, deputy leader of the Labor Party, 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?
Lord Nick McPherson, a former permanent finance minister, said it was difficult to see a credible figure who would voluntarily take on the role of Geidt as currently configured.
“Even if the powers of the ethics adviser are increased, the system is as strong as the prime minister’s commitment to high standards,” he said on Twitter.
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