The REAL Sir Gavin Williamson – all the top Tory’s scandals, blunders and leaks

Sir Gavin Williamson has found himself at the centre of a political storm once again amid a growing number of allegations about his conduct.

Rishi Sunak is under pressure to fire the scandal-hit minister – who was sacked from Cabinet by both Theresa May and Boris Johnson – who has been accused of bullying former Chief Whip Wendy Morton.

Known as a political schemer, Mr Williamson’s return to Cabinet as a minister “without portfolio” caused ripples in Westminster.

His behind-the-scenes plotting appears to have made him some enemies, with several complaints about his conduct emerging in recent days.

It’s not the first time he has hit the headlines with scandals and gaffes during his time in Government, which include stints as Education Secretary, Defence Secretary and Chief Whip.

Here are some of his most high profile controversies.

Former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (

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Getty Images) Bullying allegations

Sir Gavin has been caught up in a bullying row after ex-Chief Whip Wendy Morton complained about an expletive-filled WhatsApp exchange about the Queen’s funeral.

In the messages, published by the Sunday Times, he accused her of trying to “punish” political opponent by denying them a ticket to the state funeral.

The exchange ended : “Well let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.”

Ms Morton has reportedly made a complaint to the Tory party and Parliament’s watchdog over the issue.

Former Chief Whip Wendy Morton (

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Getty Images)

But he is not yet being investigated over allegations that he told a senior civil servant to “slit your throat” and “jump out of the window”.

Sir Gavin strongly denies the allegations, which reportedly took place when he was Defence Secretary.

A separate allegation has also been made that he raised a details about a minister’s private life in a 2016 meeting when he was Chief Whip.

The minister interpreted it as a “tacit threat”, according to The Times. Allies of Sir Gavin said he had been acting in a “pastoral capacity”.

Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman today said the PM had “full confidence” in him and he had attended a Cabinet meeting this morning.

No10 said the allegation that he told a civil servant to “slit your throat” were “serious allegations”. The spokesman said: “I’m not aware of any formal complaints currently about his conduct, but we are checking due process before commenting further.

National security leak

Sir Gavin was dramatically sacked by Theresa May as Defence Secretary in 2019 after a leak about the Chinese tech giant Huawei’s involvement in the UK 5G network from the National Security Council.

The-then Prime Minister blamed Mr Williamson for the disclosure of sensitive information from the top secret talks – something he has always denied doing.

Theresa May sacked Gavin Williamson from her Cabinet after sensitive information was leaked from the National Security Council (

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Getty Images)

In a dismissal letter, Mrs May said she was “concerned by the manner in which you have engaged with this investigation.”

She went on: “In our meeting this evening, I put to you the latest information from the investigation, which provides compelling evidence suggesting your responsibility for the unauthorised disclosure.

“No other, credible version of events to explain this leak has been identified.”

But Mr Williamson replied to her: “I strenuously deny that I was in any way involved in this leak and I am confident that a thorough and formal inquiry would have vindicated my position.”

Exams chaos

The bungling Tory came under intense criticism for the handling of education during Covid.

One of the worst moments was the exams chaos in August 2020, when thousands of students had their marks downgraded by a computer algorithm.

Sir Gavin eventually U-turned and said pupils could use teacher-assessed grades instead after a major backlash.

As Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson faced criticism over the handling of exams (

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PA)

In 2021, Sir Gavin claimed he didn’t remember what his own A-Level results were.

“I didn’t get three A*s, it’s fair to say,” he told LBC. “I have forgotten, it is so long ago. It is 27 years ago.”

Pointless school closures row

In December 2020, Sir Gavin stoked a major row with schools that were trying to close early for Christmas as the Omicron wave swept across the country.

The then-Education Secretary threatened to use legal powers against a Greenwich council, in London, which had advised heads to close early for the Christmas holidays.

He then shut all schools after a single day back in January as the country went into national lockdown.

Sir Gavin Williamson and ex-PM Boris Johnson on a visit to Pimlico Primary School in London in 2018 (

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PA) Marcus Rashford mix-up

Marcus Rashford shamed the Government into U-turns over feeding hungry school pupils – a policy that sat with Sir Gavin’s department at the time.

Sir Gavin managed to mix up the footballer with another famous black sportsman, the rugby player Maro Itoje, who had been campaigning to get laptops into schools.

He claimed he had met Rashford over Zoom but his team later clarified that it was in fact Itoje he had spoken to.

Marcus Rashford was a thorn in the side of the Government during the pandemic (

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AFP via Getty Images) Rugby player Maro Itoje (

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CameraSport via Getty Images)

Both men laughed it off, tweeting about the gaffe to their millions of followers.

Russia should ‘go away and shut up’

Sir Gavin was widely mocked in 2018 after he went on a bizarre rant against Vladimir Putin’s Russia in the wake of the Salisbury poisonings.

In response to questions over the expulsion of diplomats, he said: “What we will do is we will look at how Russia responds to what we have done,” he said.

“It is absolutely atrocious and outrageous what Russia did in Salisbury. We have responded to that.

“Frankly, Russia should go away and should shut up.”

He was apparently branded “Private Pike” by defence officials after the hapless Dad’s Army character.

Gavin Williamson told Russia to ‘go away and shut up’ when he was Defence Secretary (

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Sergei Savostyanov/AP/REX/Shutterstock) Heckled by his own phone

In 2018, Sir Gavin’s statement about the fight against ISIS was derailed by his own mobile phone.

As he addressed MPs, the familiar voice of Siri piped up: “Hi Gavin, I found something on the web for: ‘in Syria, democratic forces supported by…”

Speaker John Bercow interrupted, saying: “What a rum business that is.”

Mr Williamson replied: ‘I’m not sure what caused that intervention, but I do apologise for that.

“It is very rare that you’re heckled by your own mobile phone, but on this occasion it is a new parliamentary convention, without a doubt.”

Unexpected affair confession

In January 2018, the top Tory admitted to cheating on his wife in an office romance nearly 15 years before.

Shortly after he became Defence Secretary, Sir Gavin took the unusual step of confessing to kissing a colleague in 2004 when he worked at fireplace manufacturer Elgin and Hall in Yorkshire.

The pair “shared a kiss a couple of times” but the relationship “never went further”, he said at the time.

The admission prompted speculation he was clearing out the skeletons in his closet in preparation for a leadership bid – but such a run never materialised.

Weird gag about a ‘sharpened carrot’

Sir Gavin was Chief Whip from 2016 to 2017, where he became notorious for scaring MPs with his pet tarantula Cronus.

The spider was named after the mythological titan, who castrated his father and then ate his own children to stop them from toppling him.

In a weird party conference speech, Sir Gavin warned MPs that he took a “carrot and stick” approach to discipline.

He added: “I don’t very much believe in the stick, but it’s amazing what can be achieved with a sharpened carrot.”

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