Gavin Williamson accused of sending “threatening” messages to former chief whip

Forget Suella Braverman for a moment. Rishi Sunak’s political judgment is being questioned over another senior appointment to his team. Tortoise has learned that a formal complaint has been submitted to the Conservative party regarding “threatening” behaviour by cabinet minister Gavin Williamson.

Wendy Morton, the former chief whip under Liz Truss, has passed on details of “vile and threatening messages” she received in the days before the former prime minister resigned, sources say. One MP said the submission included screen grabs of messages sent by Williamson, himself a former chief whip. He said there was “quite a bit of evidence”, and that a number of MPs were willing to back Morton up. Another suggested there was a misogynistic undertone to the content, with messages sent over the course of several weeks.

Williamson played a key role in Sunak’s leadership campaign during the summer, when fellow Conservative MPs alleged he was “lending votes” to tactically improve Sunak’s chances. He was made minister without portfolio in Sunak’s first Cabinet.

A former minister who had previously backed Sunak said his appointment of Williamson was “absurd” and had “surprised lots of people”. Williamson has been previously sacked twice: once as defence secretary, following a Cabinet Office investigation which concluded he had leaked confidential information about Huawei despite his denial, then as education secretary following the pandemic exams debacle.

Morton confirmed she has submitted a complaint, but declined to comment further. A Conservative party spokesperson said the party had “a robust complaints process in place.” A friend of Williamson, who has yet to be made aware of the complaint, said he “strongly refutes these allegations” and is “very happy to share all communications with the former chief whip with CCHQ if needed”. 

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said it raised “fresh questions about Rishi Sunak’s woeful judgment in resurrecting ministers who left Government under a cloud of misconduct”.

She added: “Given his new role and the seriousness of these allegations, there must be an urgent and independent investigation.”

This is a section from today’s Sensemaker newsletter – our daily roundup of the news that matters. Sign up to receive it every morning here.