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| Gavin Williamson. |
UK Prime Minister, Theresa May has promoted Gavin Williamson,
her trusted chief whip, to the job of Defence Secretary to fill the role
vacated after Sir Michael Fallon resigned on Wednesday over allegations of
sexual harassment.
The
41-year-old Williamson, the MP for South Staffordshire, has been responsible
for exerting discipline over the prime minister’s fractious parliamentary party
since last year.
Fallon
stepped down on Wednesday night, admitting that his conduct towards women in
the past had “fallen short” of the standards expected of the armed forces, of
which he was in charge.
Julian
Smith, the MP for Skipton and Ripon, who previously served as Williamson’s
deputy, has been appointed to replace him as chief whip.
The new
deputy chief whip will be Esther McVey, who won George Osborne’s former seat of
Tatton in June. She was a Conservative junior minister in the coalition
government of 2010-2015, before losing her Wirral West seat.
Williamson
was closely involved in negotiating the confidence and supply deal with the Democratic
Unionist party that secured the parliamentary support May needed to govern in
the aftermath of June’s general election.
It was
Williamson and Gavin Barwell, May’s chief of staff in Number 10, the pair
collectively known as “the chiefs”, who were called in by the prime minister
last week as she discussed how to handle the growing sex harassment scandal.
Many
Conservative MPs were surprised by Williamson’s rapid promotion, at a time when
party discipline is key to the smooth operation of the government.
One senior
backbencher described it as, “Unbelievable. Ludicrous. Astonishing.”
Some
Conservative MPs even May might have made an agreement with Williamson that she
will anoint him as her preferred successor once the Brexit talks are completed.
“I thought
the secret of naked ambition was not to make it so obvious,” said one former
minister.
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