A minister who defended Boris Johnson just days ago over Christopher Pincher’s conduct after being given inaccurate “assurances” from No 10 has resigned from the government.
In another blow to the embattled prime minister, Will Quince tendered his resignation after wrongly claiming the prime minister was not aware of “specific” allegations made against the former chief whip.
In a statement on Wednesday, the education minister said: “With great sadness and regret, I have this morning tendered my resignation to the prime minister after I accepted and repeated assurances on Monday to the media which have now been found to be inaccurate.
“I wish my successor well – it is the best job in government.”
Another minister at the Department for Education (DfE), Robin Walker, also announced they had quit on Wednesday, saying the government has been “overshadowed by mistakes and questions about integrity’’.
Their decisions to quit comes as Mr Johnson faces a fight for his political survival after the devastating resginations of the chancellor Rishi Sunak, and the health secretary Sajid Javid.
Speaking on Tuesday – moments before the high profile resignations – the prime minister apologised for appointing Mr Pincher deputy chief whip in February 2022, saying it was a “mistake”.
It emerged earlier in the day Mr Johnson had been briefed on complaints relating to Mr Pincher in 2019 while he was serving as a minister at the Foreign Office – despite No 10’s previous insistence to the contrary.
However, his official spokesman denied the prime minister had “lied” and rather insisted Mr Johnson did not immediately “recall” being told about the complaint when fresh allegations emerged last week.
On Monday, Mr Quince, an education minister, defended the prime minister and told broadcasters he was given a “categorical assurance” that Mr Johnson was not “aware of specific claims”.
Mr Quince’s resgination on Wednesday also coincided with one of Nadhim Zahawi’s first interviews as chancellor on BBC’ Radio 4’s Today programme, after he was appointed to succeed Mr Sunak last night.
The new chancellor stressed he was “sorry” to see Mr Quince depart the government, saying: “All I would say to colleagues is people don’t vote for divided teams.”
“We make decisions at warped speed, we don’t always get them right. The prime minister came out last night and said I made a mistake and I am sorry,” he added.
“And I am equally sorry to see colleagues leave government and I want to unite and deliver for the country”.
