With the accusations against him getting worse by the day, Sir Gavin Williamson opted to walk out on his Cabinet Office job.
The senior Tory MP, in his resignation letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, said allegations against him were proving a “distraction”.
Since being surprisingly restored to the Cabinet by Mr Sunak last month, messages he sent the former chief whip have come to light and are under investigation.
The former fireplace salesman reportedly told Wendy Morton — who served as chief whip under the short-lived ex-PM Liz Truss — her office was trying to “f*** us all over”.
He was allegedly disparaging to her, arguing she had blocked him from attending the Queen’s funeral in September, something Ms Morton said was untrue.
Since the text messages emerged, a civil servant has come forward alleging that Sir Gavin told him to “jump out of the window" and “slit your throat”.
The messages and the alleged comment have been reported to Parliament’s bullying watchdog, while other MPs have briefed about his alleged underhand behaviour while he was Theresa May ’s chief whip.
Sir Gavin — who was knighted earlier this year — has vowed to “clean my name of any wrongdoing” as he takes a step back from the government front bench.
But it is far from the first time he has been involved in eyebrow-raising moments.
Who is Sir Gavin Williamson?
Born in Scarborough in North Yorkshire in 1976, Williamson went on to study at the University of Bradford.
A former fireplace salesman, he was unsuccessful in his bid for parliament in 2005, losing the Blackpool North and Fleetwood contest.
But he would get another crack at it five years later, winning the South Staffordshire seat during the 2010 general election.
Williamson quickly rose to prominence in his role as David Cameron's parliamentary private secretary — known as "bag carriers" in Westminster — acting as a go-between for the then-prime minister and his Conservative MPs.
Since then, he has gone on to hold the cabinet posts of chief whip, defence and education secretary and this week he resigned as minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office.
Married to former primary school teacher Joanne Eland, with whom he has two daughters, Williamson in 2018 admitted to having an affair in 2004 while working as managing director of fireplace firm Elgin & Hall.
Sir Gavin Williamson’s pet tarantula
After backing Theresa May for the leadership in 2016, he was mightily rewarded when she became Prime Minister.
Despite having no ministerial experience, the former Conservative Party leader made the MP for South Staffordshire her chief whip.
The chief whip is a powerful position, responsible for ensuring MPs vote how the prime minister wants them to in the House of Commons.
Some MPs have alleged that, while in post, Sir Gavin used personal difficulties as leverage against MPs to get them to vote the way he wanted them to.
Upon being appointed to the role, he bought a pet tarantula which he called Cronus and kept in his office in Parliament.
Some MPs saw it as a sign of intimidation, forcing them to keep a watchful eye on the spider’s scuttering as he invited them in to discuss their possible rebellion against the government.
Telling Russia to "go away"
Theresa May was also responsible for promoting Sir Gavin to the post of defence secretary in 2017, a role he held when uttering his cringe-worthy “shut up” line.
The year after being made defence sec, the UK accused Russia of being behind the Salisbury Novichok poisoning.
The attack, believed to have been carried out by two Russian agents, was targeted at Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer turned spy for Britain, and his daughter Yulia.
Sergei and Yulia became very ill but survived, although it ended up killing local woman Dawn Sturgess after a discarded perfume bottle containing the Novichok was picked-up by her partner Charlie Rowley.
In a much-ridiculed speech in the aftermath, Sir Gavin told President Vladimir Putin and his Russian cronies they should “frankly, go away and shut up”.
Only a year on, Mrs May fired him after blaming Williamson for leaking secret information from the National Security Council — an accusation he denied.
Why was Sir Gavin Williamson knighted?
Gavin Williamson was made a “Sir” in March this year, having been put forward by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
According to a report in The Sunday Times in January, Mr Johnson allegedly put the 46-year-old forward to “keep [him] quiet”.
The report came as the storm over parties held in No 10 during the Covid lockdowns grew and Johnson’s administration looked to keep influential Tories on side.
Some reports suggested that Williamson was given a knighthood in thanks for helping get Mr Johnson elected a PM in 2019, having played an integral role in the leadership campaign.
It came despite him being sacked as education secretary by Mr Johnson after the exam fiasco of 2020 where an algorithm approach to grading following the coronavirus lockdown led to chaotic results.
Mr Johnson would be ousted from Downing Street only months after putting his ally Williamson forward for an honour.
