The man vying to be Stone’s next MP, Sir Gavin Williamson, has been told to apologise for bullying another MP over not being given tickets to the late Queen’s funeral.
Sir Gavin – who is currently the MP for South Staffordshire – was forced to resign as a Cabinet Office minister in November last year after it was found he’d sent a series of expletive-laden messages to former chief whip Wendy Morton.
An independent panel found Sir Gavin’s texts amounted to “offensive and intimidating behaviour,” and that his behaviour constituted “an abuse of power.”
They said he had gone beyond “vigorous complaint or political disagreement,” and had threatened to use his power authority as a former chief whip to undermine Ms Morton personally.
The panel said it had carefully considered whether Sir Gavin should be suspended from Parliament but instead decided he should give a full and unreserved apology. The panel also confirmed Sir Gavin had accepted the ruling.
He will now make a personal statement in the House of Commons and attend ‘appropriate behaviour training’ to increase his awareness of the impact of bullying on others.
Sir Gavin sent a series of text messages to Ms Morton after he found out he hadn’t been offered an invite to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
He believed he wasn’t invited because he didn’t support Liz Truss in her leadership election.
It’s understood Sir Gavin sent seven messages to Ms Morton over a period of two days.
His exchange concluded with him saying: “Well, let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.”
As well as Ms Morton’s complaint, Sir Gavin is also alleged to have bullied a former official at the Ministry of Defence and was accused of unethical and immoral behaviour while he was chief whip.
Today, Sir Gavin issued the following statement in the House of Commons.
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal statement regarding an exchange that occurred on September 13th and 14th 2022 between myself and the then-Chief Whip, the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills.
During this exchange, I used intemperate and inappropriate language, which I regret and apologised for shortly after. My behaviour led to a complaint. The complaint was initially dismissed by the Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards, however this decision was appealed and subsequently reversed by the Independent Expert Panel.
I accept the decision that my conduct constituted a breach of the Bullying and Harassment Policy and have since reflected on my behaviour. I reiterate my apology made to the complainant following the breach, I apologise to them again now, and I apologise to the House, fully and unreservedly. I will do my utmost to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
