Lord David Wolfson has resigned after Boris Johnson was fined for attending a lockdown-breaking party.
Image source, House of Lords
A Conservative peer has quit as a justice minister over Covid-law breaking in Downing Street.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were fined for attending a lockdown-breaking party in No 10.
In a letter to Mr Johnson, Lord David Wolfson criticised the “official response” to “repeated rule-breaking”.
He is the first person to quit the government since reports of lockdown parties emerged.
Barrister Lord Wolfson has been a justice minister since December 2020, with responsibility for human rights and the constitution.
In his resignation letter, he said the “scale, context and nature” of Covid breaches in government was inconsistent with the rule of law.
He added that he had “no option” other than to resign, given his “ministerial and professional obligations” in this area.
Opposition parties have said Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak must quit after being fined for attending the event in June 2020.
But cabinet ministers have backed the pair, whilst only one Conservative MP has publicly called for Mr Johnson to stand down.
Former justice secretary David Gauke said he was “not surprised” at Lord Wolfson’s resignation.
“I think it’s a particularly uncomfortable issue for anybody in the Ministry of Justice or for that matter the law officers,” he told BBC Radio 4’s PM.
As a member of the House of Lords, Lord Wolfson will not be able to submit a letter of no confidence in the PM to trigger a Tory leadership contest.