Boris Johnson has appointed education secretary Nadhim Zahawi his new chancellor after both Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resigned from the cabinet over the PM’s handling of misconduct allegations against Chris Pincher.
Their departures – along with that of Tory vice-chair Bim Afolami – have thrown Mr Johnson’s premiership into question and come amid mounting Tory fury at the prime minister, after No 10 admitted he was aware when promoting Mr Pincher to a role in charge of MPs’ welfare that a misconduct complaint had been upheld against him.
Downing Street denied accusations from former Foreign Office permanent secretary Lord McDonald that it was “not telling the truth” when asked previously about the matter, instead insisting that Mr Johnson did not originally “recall” being told about the complaint against Mr Pincher.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening, Mr Johnson expressed his “regret” and apologised for the “mistake” of promoting Mr Pincher, acknowledging that he should have sacked him when told about the claims, adding: “In hindsight it was the wrong thing to do.”
