U-turns, sackings and alleged bullying: Who is Gavin Williamson?
Cabinet Minister Sir Gavin Williamson, whose political career has not been short of controversy, has resigned following bullying allegations.
Further pressure was piled on Rishi Sunak's ally on Tuesday after a report in The Guardian alleged Sir Gavin had told a senior civil servant to “slit your throat” and on another occasion to “jump out of the window”.
His recent return to government as a Cabinet Office minister raised eyebrows in Westminster, where he is viewed with suspicion by many Tory MPs thanks to his long-standing reputation as an inveterate plotter and a master of parliamentary “dark arts”.
Sir Gavin rose up the ranks when he was appointed Theresa May's chief whip when she took office in July 2016 and had been a vital part of her inner circle.
As a whip, he was best known in Westminster for keeping a pet tarantula named Cronus in a glass box on his desk, which is claimed to have provided added menace when dealing with errant MPs.
Those whipping skills were put to good use in recent months, as Sir Gavin – knighted at Boris Johnson’s request earlier this year – took on a key role in Mr Sunak’s summer campaign to become Tory leader as he sought to win over his parliamentary colleagues.
His fortunes rose alongside those of Mr Sunak, as the collapse of Liz Truss’s chaotic administration brought a clutch of old faces back into government under the current prime minister.
With the fresh allegations against Sir Gavin emerging, and as he takes a step back from government, we revisit the controversies that have surrounded his career.
Covid exam U-turns
The former fireplace manufacturing firm managing director’s second most recent stint in government ended badly, when he faced repeated criticism over his handling of disruption to schools during the pandemic and the fiasco around grading of GCSE and A-level students amid cancelled exams.
Born and raised in Scarborough, Sir Gavin went to a local comprehensive school and sixth-form college before studying at the University of Bradford.
His state school background was not enough to win over many teachers, students and parents during the Covid-19 pandemic, which dominated his time in office and led to a series of U-turns.
In summer 2020, he faced calls to resign over the A-level and GCSE results row after the government was forced into a U-turn following protests over the downgrading of thousands of results.
Sir Gavin also received criticism over the recovery plan to help pupils catch up and confusion around children returning to class amid Covid-19.
Free school meals fiasco
Sir Gavin faced calls to step down amid widespread criticism of inadequate free school meal provision for pupils during the pandemic.
Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford's public campaign forced the government, and Sir Gavin's education department, into several U-turns over the free school meals policy.
Matters were made worse when Sir Gavin appeared to confuse Rashford with another black sportsman - rugby player Maro Itoje.
He had said in a newspaper interview that he'd met Rashford via Zoom and that he was "engaged, compassionate and charming" - but Sir Gavin's team later clarified he had in fact spoken with Itoje, who campaigned for children to get access to laptops during lockdown.
Russia: 'Go away and shut up'
Before his time at the Department for Education, Sir Gavin became known for a tendency to put his foot in his mouth as defence secretary.
At the height of the furore over the Salisbury Novichok attack in March 2018, Sir Gavin urged Russia to “go away and shut up”.
Sacking over leak
Sir Gavin was sacked as defence secretary in May 2019.
It came after an inquiry into the leak of information from a National Security Council meeting about Chinese telecoms firm Huawei’s involvement in the development of the UK’s 5G mobile network.
Sir Gavin denied being the source of the leak.
‘Heckled’ by Siri at despatch box
In 2018, Gavin Williamson was left red-faced after his iPhone “heckled” him at the despatch box.
Mr Williamson was giving MPs an update in the Commons on the battle against Daesh when his iPhone’s Siri interrupted.
The Cabinet minister fumbled to find his phone while Siri, speaking in what is thought to be a first from the despatch box, said: “I found something on the web for Syrian democratic forces supported by.”
Former Speaker John Bercow rose to say “what a very rum business that is” – drawing laughs from MPs.
Mr Williamson, after recovering his phone, said: “I do apologise for that, it is very rare that you’re heckled by your own mobile phone.
“On this occasion it is a new parliamentary convention without a doubt.
“So if I may proceed, Mr Speaker, without the help and support of Siri…”
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