Christopher Geidt’s decision to step down as independent adviser on minister’s interests – and the ensuing outcry over Boris Johnson’s reported plans to scrap the role rather than appoint a successor – has cast fresh light on an increasingly thankless position within Downing Street.
Lord Geidt announced his decision on Wednesday evening, writing a withering letter to Mr Johnson in which he said the prime minister had risked a “deliberate and purposeful breach of the ministerial code” by asking him to advise on a plan to maintain tariffs on Chinese steel that would have broken World Trade Organisation rules, placing him in an “impossible and odious position” by so doing.
