The Top 10: Ministerial Resignations

From Profumo to Green, some notable departures from government

Lord Bates announcing in the House of Lords on Wednesday he would be offering his resignation

In a change to the advertised programme, and in tribute to Michael Bates, the DfID minister in the House of Lords who offered his resignation this week (the Prime Minister advised the Queen not to accept it) because he was “ashamed” at having not been in his place in the chamber in time to answer questions, I bring you a list originally suggested long ago by Dan Kelly.

By coincidence, a review copy arrived on my desk this week of Fighters and Quitters: Great Political Resignations, by Theo Barclay, published by Biteback on 5 February, from which I have chosen these.

1. John Profumo. Secretary of State for War, 1963. “The scandal that had it all,” says Barclay. “Glamorous aristocrats, gorgeous call girls, East End gangsters, Russian spies and a rank miscarriage of justice.”

2. Michael Heseltine. Secretary of State for Defence, 1986. “I cannot accept this decision. I must therefore leave the Cabinet.” And out into Downing Street he swept, to announce his departure to a startled TV camera operator.

3. Edwina Currie. Minister for Public Health, 1988. Before her affair with John Major became known she was famous for saying the wrong thing about eggs.

4. Geoffrey Howe. Deputy Prime Minister, 1990. “The time has come for others to consider their own response to the tragic conflict of loyalties with which I have myself wrestled for perhaps too long.” Electrifying speech: Margaret Thatcher was gone within three weeks.

5. Peter Mandelson. Trade and Industry Secretary, 1998; Northern Ireland Secretary, 2001. Not one but two, and neither of them strictly necessary.

6. Stephen Byers. Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 2002. His resignation “stands apart ... as it was not caused by personal error, indiscretion or political infighting. Instead he was crushed by his own civil servants,” says Barclay.

7. Robin Cook. Leader of the House of Commons, 2003. Barclay is unimpressed by his principled departure over Iraq: “For all its superficial dignity, Cook’s resignation was in many ways pointless ... If he had resigned at an earlier stage ... he could have convinced colleagues to follow suit.”

8. Liam Fox. Secretary of State for Defence, 2011. What Fox called the “whispering in the weeds” about his sexuality and relationship with Adam Werrity, his friend and travelling companion, “seems, in hindsight, outdated and offensive”, says Barclay. “However, Fox’s breaches of the Ministerial Code alone were probably resigning issues.” Nos 2, 5 and 8 on this list all returned to office.

9. Chris Huhne. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, 2012. The only one on this list to go to jail – for obstruction of justice after asking his wife, Vicky Pryce, to take his penalty points for speeding.

10. Damian Green. First Secretary of State, 2017. Although Priti Patel’s resignation as International Development Secretary six weeks earlier was the better drama, after bumping into the Israeli prime minister while on holiday and being tracked on her flight back from Kenya to explain herself to Theresa May.

Theo Barclay’s book has 17 chapters, although some of them cover two resignations, such as Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe, and some are devoted to resignations as MPs or party leaders, such as the Duchess of Atholl, John Stonehouse, Douglas Carswell and Jeremy Thorpe.

Next week: Famous people who lived on the same street, such as Charles Darwin and Thomas De Quincey, who both lived on Lothian Street, Edinburgh

Coming soon: Words you have to look up in the dictionary every single time, such as popinjay and panjandrum

Your suggestions please, and ideas for future Top 10s, to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk