Sunak escapes blame over Williamson allegations… so far

Pressure is mounting on Rishi Sunak and Gavin Williamson. The official who alleged that Williamson bullied them when defence secretary has made a formal complaint against him. This is significant because up to this point Williamson had claimed he was not aware of any ‘specific’ allegations and that no formal complaints had been made. It is also much more difficult when the complainants are officials, rather than fellow politicians who have to a certain extent opted into the hurly-burly of Westminster. 

Then there are the claims of former deputy chief whip Anne Milton on Channel 4 News this evening that Williamson made inappropriate threats to a Tory MP in financial difficulty. He hasn’t yet responded to that interview from his ex-colleague. 

Rishi Sunak will face Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions tomorrow and will inevitably have to justify his decision to keep Williamson in place while multiple complaints are being investigated. Last week Starmer claimed Sunak had only reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary because he needed her support for his leadership campaign. This week he'll presumably make the same claims about how Williamson may have helped the PM. 

Sunak may have calculated that Williamson is a better person to have inside the tent than outside. It is a commonly-held view among Conservative MPs that the former chief whip was a key agitator behind the scenes – along with Julian Smith, also a former chief – in the final days of Liz Truss’s short-lived premiership. It is also striking how many Tory MPs turned to support Truss over Sunak because they really disliked the people around Sunak, including Williamson. He often frustrated colleagues with his swaggering way of whipping, including boasting that he had a pet tarantula on his desk, and taking too much delight and interest in the ‘ins and outs’ – as he called the details of MPs’ personal problems and proclivities. This means there is not exactly a shortage of colleagues who are keen to criticise him – but for the time being they are training their focus on Williamson, rather than the man who appointed him.