British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing growing unrest in his ruling Conservative Party as questions swirl about his judgment after a key ally was accused of bullying a colleague. Wendy Morton, who served as chief enforcer in the short-lived government of former prime minister Liz Truss, has filed a complaint over a series of profanity-laced text messages sent to her by Gavin Williamson following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. Williamson, who Sunak appointed to his cabinet last month but was a backbench MP at the time, told Morton there was “a price” for everything after he accused her of keeping him off the guest list at the Queen’s funeral.
In another report, Williamson told Morton that her behavior was “disgusting” and that she had decided to “f*ck us all”. Although reports point to bitter internal disputes between Tory MPs during Truss’s premiership, the leaked exchange shows the party’s united front remains fragile. Labor pounced after the latest apparent breakdown in government discipline, with deputy leader Angela Rayner saying Sunak was putting her party’s interests ahead of the country’s.
Security breach
Morton lodged a formal complaint with the Conservative Party shortly before Sunak won the leadership race and appointed Williamson. It casts fresh doubt over Sunak’s choice for senior government jobs just weeks into his premiership – he was forced to defend his appointment of Home Secretary Suella Braverman six days after she was sacked by Truss over security breaches. Since then, Braverman has been dogged by reports that her decisions led to the illegal detention of thousands of people at the migration center. Williamson himself was sacked by Theresa May as Defense Secretary in 2019 following allegations that he had leaked confidential information.
Oliver Dowden, Sunak’s chief of staff, confirmed that Sunak was aware of the difficult relationship between Williamson and Morton, although he had not seen the details of the text messages when he appointed him. The reports are not acceptable and Sunak continues to trust him as a member of his cabinet, Dowden said. Williamson told that he regretted the frustration and hoped to “work positively” with Morton in the future.
Yet just hours after the newspaper published the reports, MPs who had served under Truss but were subsequently sacked by Sunak were sending scathing tweets about their experiences of bullying. Although they did not specify what they were referring to, former justice minister Brandon Lewis and former whip Mark Jenkinson urged victims of bullying to get support as screenshots of Williamson and Morton’s exchange circulated on social media.
For now, Sunak is keeping his distance from the drama at home. At the last minute, he decided to attend the climate summit of the United Nations COP27 in Egypt, where, among other things, he will meet the French President Emmanuel Macron. He originally planned to skip the meeting, but changed his mind after critics questioned his commitment to fighting climate change. Sunak’s overseas debut means he will have to deal with the fallout from a distance from a party that is still divided. It’s a dilemma that could ultimately force him to make a tough decision about what to do with Williamson, a staunch ally who has helped him in his quest for leadership.
