Gavin Williamson is facing an investigation over a series of abusive messages he sent to the then Tory chief whip over the Queen's funeral.
Sir Gavin, now a Cabinet minister but who was a backbencher at the time, allegedly accused then-chief whip Wendy Morton of 'punishing' senior MPs out of favour with Liz Truss' government.
The Sunday Times, who have reported the messages, say they conclude with: “Well let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.”
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In response, former education secretary Sir Gavin told The Sunday Times: “I of course regret getting frustrated about the way colleagues and I felt we were being treated.
“I am happy to speak with Wendy and I hope to work positively with her in the future as I have in the past.”
Formal complaint submitted
The Press Association reports that the paper said the then party chairman, Sir Jake Berry, informed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak the day before he entered No 10 that Ms Morton had submitted a formal complaint to the party about Sir Gavin’s conduct.
Both Sir Jake and Ms Morton lost their jobs in the ensuing reshuffle while Sir Gavin – a former chief whip and a supporter of Mr Sunak – returned to government.
In the messages, Sir Gavin reportedly complained it was “very poor” that privy councillors – senior politicians who formally advise the monarch – who “aren’t favoured” have been excluded from the funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Ms Morton repeatedly insisted that his claims were unfounded and that the Government had been allocated an “extremely limited” number of tickets, most of which went to members of the Cabinet, the paper claimed.
Mr Williamson retorted, as reported by The Sunday Times,: “Well certainly looks it which think is very s*** and perception becomes reality. Also don’t forget I know how this works so don’t puss (sic) me about. It’s very clear how you are going to treat a number of us which is very stupid and you are showing f*** all interest in pulling things together.
“Also this shows exactly how you have rigged it is is (sic) disgusting you are using her death to punish people who are just supportive, absolutely disgusting.
“Well let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.”
Sir Jake told the paper that he was informed by the Conservative Party chief executive on October 24 that a complaint had been made against Sir Gavin regarding allegations of “bullying and intimidation of parliamentary colleagues”.
“In compliance with protocol, in my capacity as party chairman, I informed both the new Prime Minister and his incoming chief of staff about the complaint on the same day,” he said.
According to The Sunday Times, Mr Sunak did not recall the “specifics” of their conversation.
Sir Gavin was made a privy councillor and awarded a knighthood by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister earlier this year. He was sacked first by Theresa May as defence secretary for leaking details of a national security council meeting and then by Mr Johnson as education secretary over the Covid-19 A-levels debacle.
A Conservative Party spokesman: “The Conservative Party has a robust complaints process in place. This process is rightly a confidential one, so that complainants can come forward in confidence.”
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