Gavin Williamson has been accused of threatening to pull funding for a new school because a Tory MP opposed the government in a vote.
Christian Wakeford, the former Tory MP who humiliated Boris Johnson by defecting to Labour, claimed yesterday: “I was threatened that I would not get it if I did not vote in one particular way.”
And today he identified the former Education Secretary as the senior Tory who threatened to scrap the school.
"It was Gavin Williamson," Mr Wakeford told the Times.
The Bury South MP recalled the alleged confrontation, which took place just before a vote on an opposition motion to extend free school meals during holidays.
He had expressed sympathy for the motion - telling friends that not extending them was "mean spirited".
But he eventually abstained following the alleged conversation with Mr Williamson.
Mr Wakeford told the Times: “It’s not very helpful to back an opposition [motion] against the department where you’re wanting an extremely large favour from said department, so do consider what you’re doing.”
Mr Williamson was previously Chief Whip under Theresa May, and reputedly kept a tarantula named Cronus in his office.
During a Tory conference speech in 2017, Mr Williamson joked: "I don't very much believe in the stick. But it's amazing what can be achieved with a sharpened carrot."
The following year, funding for a new school in Bury South was approved by Mr Williamson's department.
The disclosure came after Downing Street said it would not be mounting its own inquiry into the claims, despite calls to do so by both Conservative and opposition MPs.
A No 10 spokesman said it would only open an inquiry if it was presented with evidence.
Mr Wakeford said: "I know the maxim is ‘once a whip, always a whip’, but yeah, that one was Gavin."
Mr Williamson told the Times: "I don’t have any recollection of the conversation as described but what I do remember is working tirelessly with Christian and others in order to be able to deliver this school, which I did.
“Such major investment decisions are made after close analysis of the benefits that the investment will bring and certainly not something that can be decided in a brief conversation like the one described.”
