Gavin Williamson isn’t a Westminster villain – it’s more complex than that

Anyone who has the good fortune to serve their country in high office knows that sometimes good people have to do bad things, writes Salma Shah

Gavin Williamson going to the back benches doesn’t fill the fiscal black hole, or deal with the small boats crisis (AFP/Getty)

Sniggering at Gavin Williamson’s resignation is likely to have been your first reaction on hearing the news. Then, maybe you joked that it’s time for him to “go away and shut up”, as he once famously told the whole of Russia to do.

When that’s complete, perhaps you can go on to sharing more Frank Spencer memes on WhatsApp... and then what? Realise that Matt Hancock is an official campmate in the jungle and switch your ire to him instead?

The problems we’re facing will still be there. Williamson going to the back benches doesn’t fill the fiscal black hole, or deal with the small boats crisis. So why do we love to hate our Westminster villains so much? Why do we live to judge and enjoy their falls from grace? Why is it so much more satisfying than looking at the complexities of getting waiting lists in the NHS down? Or working out whether ID cards might well be an innovative solution to delivering government services?