ICYMI: Two more Cabinet members resigned over the weekend

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Theresa May is leaking Cabinet staff quicker than she can say Chequers. Here's why.

It seems like the weekend is becoming the preferred time for Cabinet members to hand in their resignations. 

Last weekend was spiced up the the Sunday late announcement that Brexit secretary David Davis would be stepping down. This Sunday it was the turn of Foreign Office aid Robert Courts MP to bid goodbye to his position as part of the Tory rebellion against the PM’s Brexit plans.

Who is Robert Courts and why has he resigned?

Robert Courts is the successor to David Cameron in the Witney seat. He has been the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to ministers in the Foreign Office since January.


Despite representing a predominantly Remain constituency, Courts is known as a Brexiteer and is a member of the Eurosceptic Conservative lobbying force, European Research Group. His resignation comes as a protest over the Chequers Agreement, which hard Brexiteers have deemed too lenient of European demands.

MPs are set to vote on a cross border trade bill later today. Courts is expected to oppose it, favouring a series of amendments that would kill the bill’s main purpose, including the possibility of Britain remaining in the Customs Union.

He is the seventh MP to resign from Cabinet duties due to Brexit in the last seven days, and the 13th to abandon May in under a year.

Plus another sex scandal

The other weekend resignation came from Andrew Griffiths, after the business minister was exposed in the Sunday papers as having pestered two of his constituents with a series of sexually explicit messages.


The story was front page of the Sunday Mirror, with the paper revealing how Griffiths had sent over 2000 texts and social media messages to two young women in his constituency. The one-time chief of staff to Theresa May was also found paying the women for sexual imagery, while proposing the three met for sex in a hotel.

Griffiths, who welcomed his first child with his wife Kate in April, later apologised agreeing he had caused “deep embarrassment to the Prime Minister and the government I am so proud to serve”. He reportedly referred himself to the Conservative Party’s disciplinary procedures.

The MP was once the founder of the Women2Win campaign, which lobbies to see more women MPs elected, as well as a loud voice on other gender issues.

Who, when and why of Tory Cabinet resignations

Theresa May has lost 13 of her Cabinet members since November last year. Here’s a timeline of the resignations, the roles these Tory MPs played at the time of stepping down, and the reasons why they turned their back on the PM.

1 November 2017 – Michael Fallon, Defence Secretary
Stepped down following a series of allegations of sexual misconduct towards fellow MPs and female journalists

8 November 2017 – Priti Patel, International Development Secretary
Resigned after news broke out she had held a series of meetings with Israeli diplomats and political figures, and discussed state matters, while on a holiday to Israel.

20 December 2017 – Damian Green, First Secretary of State
Removed from his position after allegations of sexual misconduct came to light, including the storing of pornographic material on his work computer.

29 April 2018 – Amber Rudd, Home Secretary
Resigned after ongoing pressure following the Windrush scandal. She had previously been found lying to the Home Affairs Select Committee over her lack of knowledge of the Home Office’s deportation targets.

8 January 2018 – Justine Greening, Education Secretary
Resigned after a Cabinet reshuffle saw May offering Greening a demotion in the form of Secretary for Work and Pensions. Greening rejected the offer. She is believed to have incurred the PM’s wrath after losing nearly 10% of her vote-share during the 2017 snap election.

8 July 2018 – David Davis, Brexit Secretary
Resigned in protest over the Cabinet’s Brexit plans, also known as the Chequers Agreement.

9 July 2018 – Steve Baker, Brexit Minister
Resigned following Davis’ lead.

9 July 2018 – Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary
Resigned in protest over the Cabinet’s Brexit plans, also known as the Chequers Agreement.

9 July 2018 – Conor Burns, Johnson’s PPS
Resigned following Johnson’s lead.

9 July 2018 – Chris Green, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s PPS
Resigned following Johnson’s lead.


10 July 2018 – Maria Caulfield, Conservative Party Vice-Chair for Women
Resigned in protest over the Cabinet’s Brexit plans, also known as the Chequers Agreement.

10 July 2018 – Ben Bradley, Conservative Party Vice-Chair for Youth
Resigned in protest over the Cabinet’s Brexit plans, also known as the Chequers Agreement.

15 July 2018 – Andrew Griffiths, Business Minister
Resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct towards to two of his female constituents.

15 July 2018 – Robert Courts, Foreign Office PPS
Resigned in protest over the Cabinet’s Brexit plans, also known as the Chequers Agreement.

Joana Ramiro is a reporter for Left Foot Forward. You can follow her on Twitter for all sorts of rants here.

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