Theresa May angered Conservative MPs on Thursday as she tried to draw a line under the Westminster sleaze scandal by promoting her chief whip to the defence minister’s post vacated by Sir Michael Fallon.

Backbenchers complained about the appointment of Gavin Williamson, arguing that the 41-year-old lacked experience, and there was disappointment that the prime minister had failed to use Fallon’s departure as the opportunity for a wider reshuffle.

Sarah Wollaston, the backbench MP for Totnes, suggested Williamson should have turned down the job. “There are times when offered a job that it would be better to advise that another would be more experienced & suited to the role.”

There are times when offered a job that it would be better to advise that another would be more experienced & suited to the role — Sarah Wollaston (@sarahwollaston) November 2, 2017

“Unbelievable. Ludicrous. Astonishing,” said one senior Conservative. Another surmised that Williamson has his eyes on May’s job once the Brexit negotiations were over. “I thought the secret of naked ambition was not to make it so obvious,” she said.

Notorious in Westminster for keeping a pet tarantula in his parliamentary office, the new defence secretary has never previously run a government department.

But he has become one of the prime minister’s most trusted aides, negotiating the deal with the Democratic Unionist party that helped to shore up her position in the wake of the general election – and imposing discipline on her fractious MPs.

May’s spokesman said: “Gavin Williamson was an excellent and hard-working chief whip and the PM is certain he will make an excellent defence secretary.”

Chief whips are usually involved in reshuffles, but asked whether Williamson had helped to take the decision about how to replace Fallon, May’s spokesman said: “As a matter of fact, the answer is no, the prime minister appoints the government.”

Some backbenchers were irked at Williamson’s promotion because they believe the whips’ office has been complicit in covering up bad behaviour by MPs. But the spokesman insisted Williamson had investigated all claims of sexual misconduct raised with the whips’ office. “The prime minister is confident in the operation of the whips’ office during her premiership.”

May offered no comment on sleaze claims on Thursday, after pulling out of an awards ceremony in Westminster as Fallon resigned.

Downing Street refused to elaborate on the reasons for his departure, repeatedly directing journalists’ attention to his resignation letter, in which he admitted his conduct may have “fallen short” of the standards expected of the armed forces.

Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Tories, who met May in London on Wednesday evening, hinted that she believed radical change would be necessary. “The dam has broken on this now and these male-dominated professions, overwhelmingly male-dominated professions, where the boys’ own locker room culture has prevailed and it has all been a bit of a laugh has got to stop,” she told the BBC’s Today.

Profile Who is Gavin Williamson? Show Before Westminster Born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, he had a comprehensive education before going on to gain a degree in social science at the University of Bradford. Williamson then worked for a while in the pottery industry and for an architectural design firm before being elected MP for South Staffordshire in 2010 at the age of 33. A rapid rise Just a few years after his election, Williamson became David Cameron’s parliamentary aide, acting as his eyes and ears among MPs. But when Cameron stepped down, Williamson quickly threw his lot in with Theresa May as the most effective stop-Boris candidate and was adopted as her campaign manager. Having impressed with his organisational skills, he was elevated to chief whip, despite not having previously served as a minister. Appointed defence secretary After becoming pivotal in the deal with the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), Williamson earned May's respect for managing difficult parliamentary votes with the slimmest of DUP-backed majorities. His move into the cabinet after Sir Michael Fallon resigned over allegations of sexual harassment appeared to position him as a potential Conservative leader, but the backlash among MPs was significant. Spider man In Westminster he kept a tarantula called Cronus in a glass box on his desk, seemingly to intimidate MPs who had stepped out of line. The creature is named after the Greek god who came to power by castrating his own father before eating his own children to ensure they would not oust him. Gaffes in office Known for his colourful Instagram posts, Williamson was involved in a series of gaffes as defence secretary. As well as clashing with the prime minister over the publication of the government’s defence review, he angered the Chinese enough for them to cancel a trade trip by chancellor Philip Hammond, and was called 'the minister for war' by a Russian minister after his comments about the Skripal poisoning.



Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley once cut off a live interview with him after he repeatedly refused to answer a question. It was all enough to earn him the nickname 'Private Pike' in Whitehall, in reference to the hapless youth in the sitcom Dad’s Army

Downfall Williamson was sacked as defence secretary by Theresa May after she "lost confidence in his ability to serve in the role of defence secretary and as a member of her cabinet". The move followed an investigation into who leaked sensitive National Security Council discussions about the Chinese company Huawei's involvement in the UK's 5G network infrastructure. Williamson has denied being the source of the leak, saying he was the victim of a 'kangaroo court'.

At the Spectator awards ceremony on Wednesday night, Davidson – considered by some on the liberal wing of the Conservative party to be a potential leader – said: “When we look at some of the house clearing that is going to be, and needs to happen in the next few weeks, months and years ahead, are we going to say that we didn’t need some pretty big shovels for the Augean stable.”

But the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, played down the need for a mass clearout. “This is not about about cleaning out stables, actually,” he said.

May had been tipped to carry out a reshuffle after the Conservative party conference, when the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, caused controversy by appearing to set out a distinctly different Brexit position from the prime minister, and saying tourism in Libya could flourish once “the dead bodies” had been cleared away.

Some MPs urged May to sack Johnson, but his pro-Brexit allies fought back by calling for the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to be removed from his post for failing to be sufficiently upbeat about the economic outlook.

Many in Westminster now doubt the prime minister has the authority to sack any senior figures, though the sleaze allegations could yet claim more scalps.

Williamson gave an interview to the the Express and Star newspaper in his South Staffordshire constituency, saying: “I was absolutely flabbergasted when the prime minister brought me in and asked me to be the secretary of state for defence.

“Walking through the doors of the Ministry of Defence, I immediately felt a real sense of responsibility on my shoulders. I am under no illusions that this is a massive challenge and a huge responsibility. It is one that I hope I will be able to meet.”

Williamson has been responsible for keeping Tory rebels in check, and some senior Conservatives warned that he had been personally responsible for striking deals over potential government concessions on the EU (withdrawal) bill, which will come back to the Commons later this month.

Avoiding a series of embarrassing defeats for the government on the key piece of Brexit legislation will be one of the first tasks for Williamson’s successor as chief whip, his close friend and former deputy, Julian Smith.

The new deputy chief whip will be Esther McVey, who won George Osborne’s former seat of Tatton in June. She was a Conservative junior minister in the coalition government of 2010-15, before losing her Wirral West seat.

Backbench MPs are wondering whether Fallon’s departure will be the last as fresh allegations emerge from Westminster staff and journalists, emboldened by the Harvey Weinstein claims to share their experiences of powerful men’s behaviour.

Damian Green, May’s close ally and first secretary of state, has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances to Kate Maltby, an academic and journalist 30 years his junior. He vehemently denies the claims, which are set to be investigated by the Cabinet Office.

