Who is Gavin Williamson?

Having resigned, again, you might be wondering “who is Gavin Williamson and why does he keep messing up.”

Hannah McKay/Reuters

Sir Gavin Williamson is in the public eye once again, last night he resigned from the Government after accusations of bullying and harassment.

This is the third time he has had to leave the Government, having already been sacked as both the Education Secretary and Defence Secretary.

Sir Gavin began his parliamentary career as a ministerial aide to David Cameron, acting as the then-prime minister's bag carrier and eyes and ears at Westminster.

He remained in this important role until Mr Cameron left office in June 2016. 

After Theresa May became prime minister, he was made chief whip, responsible for keeping MPs in line and enforcing party discipline. 

In the aftermath of the disastrous 2017 election, he played a crucial role in paving the way for the Conservatives' agreement with the Democratic Unionists to prop up Mrs May's minority Government.

Sir Gavin began his parliamentary career as a ministerial aide to David Cameron, acting as the then-prime minister's bag carrier and eyes and ears at Westminster.

In his role as chief whip, he was known for keeping a tarantula called Cronus on his desk.

Describing his methods in the whips office, he told the Conservative Party conference in 2017: "We take a carrot and stick approach... Personally I don't much like the stick, but it is amazing what can be achieved with a sharpened carrot."

Nick Timothy - a senior adviser to Mrs May - described Mr Williamson as an "excellent" chief whip, who was "a shrewd tactician" and "a judge of character".

"Even MPs who don't like him admit that he was the best chief whip the party has had in decades - and he did it through some of the hardest years," he said in a tweet.

Why has he resigned?

The Former chief whip Wendy Morton has shown Parliament’s bullying watchdog abusive text messages from Sir Gavin, full of expletives, and has also made a compliant to Tory HQ about his actions.

The Guardian had previously reported that he told a senior civil servant to “slit your throat” and “jump out of the window”, in his time as defence secretary.

 No 10 said it would be conducting its own informal investigation.

Within his resignation letter, he said allegations about his “past conduct” were becoming a distraction for the government, and even though he “refutes the characterisation of these claims” and has apologised to the person who received the messages.

Have you had enough or do you think he deserves a final chance? Let us know below!