Christopher Geidt’s resignation as the government’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests is a genuinely disturbing event for British public life in general, and for trust in government in particular. Because of the high importance of upholding standards codes, any resignation by the holder of this post would be disturbing. This would be particularly true if it was provoked by a substantive difference of ethical view between the prime minister and the adviser.
This is exactly what happened with Lord Geidt, after less than 14 months in the job. It was also what occurred when the previous adviser, Sir Alex Allan, resigned in November 2020. No such conflict had occurred under any of Sir Alex’s predecessors.
