A disappointing ‘fresh start’

In his first speech as Prime Minister on the 25th of October, Rishi Sunak promised that “this government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”

On that same day, the new PM reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. This was only six days after Ms Braverman had to resign as Home Secretary under Liz Truss for numerous breaches of the Ministerial Code and security lapses.

This makes a mockery of the Ministerial Code and suggests that Ministers can break the rules without facing real consequences. One of our members described Ms Braverman’s punishment as a ‘6 day holiday’.

The Prime Minister also appointed Sir Gavin Williamson as a Minister of State without portfolio. It was then alleged that Sir Gavin Williamson had acted abusively towards MPs and civil servants. But Sir Gavin Williamson wasn’t sacked by Mr Sunak, he resigned.

It’s a disappointing ‘fresh start’ from Mr Sunak’s Government.

We carried out a survey of our supporters, over 6,700 of whom responded. In this survey, 95% of supporters thought it was not appropriate for the Prime Minister to reinstate Ms Braverman as Home Secretary after her breaches of the Ministerial Code.

It feels like history is repeating itself. In 2021, Boris Johnson let Priti Patel remain as Home Secretary after an inquiry found that she had broken the Ministerial Code by bullying her staff. Now, Mr Sunak has appointed a former Home Secretary who broke security rules to the post of ... Home Secretary. 

That’s why 74% of our supporters believe there will be 'no difference' in how Mr Sunak’s government deals with sleaze, cronyism and rule breaking compared to his predecessors.

I hope the Prime Minister will prove us wrong by demonstrating that things will be different under his leadership. He could start by appointing an Ethics Advisor to help him tackle rule breaking in government.  Once appointed, the advisor could usefully start by considering the cases of Ms Braverman and Mr Williamson.

Whether or not Rishi Sunak does this will reveal whether he is serious about his government having integrity.