Matt Hancock’s resignation is also Boris Johnson’s failure
While Matt Hancock eventually resigned for his breach of Covid rules, the reaction to his behaviour should be a wake-up call to the government
While Matt Hancock eventually resigned for his breach of Covid rules, the reaction to his behaviour should be a wake-up call to the government on lax standards. But the problem stems from Boris Johnson, says Tim Durrant
Matt Hancock’s resignation as health secretary was inevitable. The anger from people who abided by social distancing rules Hancock designed and ignored, coupled with his hypocrisy in having called for others in similar circumstances to resign, made his position untenable – even if it took him 24 hours to accept the reality. However, it is what the Hancock affair reveals about the general lack of standards in this government that should cause greater concern – as should the fact that standards are meant to be set and enforced by the prime minister.
Hancock failed to take his responsibilities as a secretary of state seriously
Hancock was in government for almost nine years – hardly an inexperienced junior minister. He would have been talked through the requirements of the Ministerial Code, the guidelines for ministers, many times. He had seen other ministers come under scrutiny for their actions in office. So it is baffling that he did not consider that appointing an old friend – let alone someone who became his lover – to the board of his department would raise questions. The code is clear that “working relationships… should be proper and appropriate.” While having an affair with someone he appointed to a paid post may not break an explicit clause in the code, it was bound to cause controversy.
But Hancock has form in not following the rules. He was recently found to have breached the code by failing to disclose that he held shares in a company, owned by his sister, which was awarded a framework contract with part of the NHS.[1] While this was ruled to be a minor, unintentional breach, Hancock’s letter to the prime minister after the revelation sounded unduly petulant, as he complained that “I do not think I could reasonably have been expected to declare it”.[2] His response suggests a deeper failure to appreciate the accountability that should apply to those who hold the highest political offices.
The Hancock affair exposes failures in the system of government appointments
Last week’s events should not be blamed on Hancock alone. Departmental non-executive directors (NEDs) are supposed to disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. How would Gina Coladangelo provide impartial scrutiny of the work of her department if she was a friend of, let alone romantically involved with, its secretary of state? It also emerged that that her brother works for a company that has won contracts from the NHS – surely another conflict of interest?[3] But there is no record of her having declared any interests, financial or otherwise. The department should have made sure that she, and all the other NEDs, did so.
There is a separate question about how she was appointed to the role, or what exactly she did in it. The government has said that the proper procedure was followed, but there is no public record of what form that procedure takes. Government guidance gives little clarity on the nature of the appointment process for NEDs, meaning it is impossible to judge if it is fair.[4] The government needs to be much clearer about how non-executives get their jobs, and what their remit and responsibilities are, and ensure they are not simply given the job to bypass the limit on the number of special advisers (a limit that is of the government’s own making).
The prime ministers’ failures to uphold standards are the most consequential
Fundamentally, this episode is yet another example of Boris Johnson’s failure to demonstrate leadership on standards in government. His initial reaction, as the story broke last Friday, was to accept Hancock’s apology and, via his spokesperson, to say he “considered the matter closed”.[5] This was hastily dismissive given the questions raised by the affair and, given the outpouring of anger over the next 24 hours, including from the government’s own MPs, displayed a lack of political judgement.
But Johnson’s attempt to retrospectively recast that initial reaction reveals most about the prime minister’s struggle to uphold high standards in government. On Monday Johnson said that “when I saw the story on Friday, we had a new secretary of state for health in on Saturday”,[6] implying it was he alone who had held Hancock to account for his actions. Rather than rewrite history, this will only serve to remind those watching of the initial weakness of the prime minister: had he acted sooner, he may have gained some political credit; having belatedly realised that, he seemed to be seeking to claim credit after the fact.
Questioned about government standards on the Today programme on Monday, justice secretary Robert Buckland said “all the rest is just talk, and usually talk by people who have an agenda that is clearly against that of the prime minister… they can’t get over the fact that he is popular”.[7] This is worrying. Public standards for those in the highest office should not rest on their poll ratings; they should exist regardless of a government’s popularity or otherwise. But the comment is telling about the way Johnson approaches standards in government.
The prime minister has committed to updating the Ministerial Code, and the Institute for Government will publish its recommendations for a fundamental overhaul presently. Ultimately, however, as long as the prime minister continues to see standards as something dependent only on what is politically popular, the rules, reformed or otherwise, will continue to be undermined by ministers who see no need to abide by them.
[5] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/matt-hancock-job-affair-boris-johnson-b1872769.html
[6] https://twitter.com/NatashaC/status/1409478213168947205
[7] https://twitter.com/GuardianHeather/status/1409433020323536897/photo/2
- Supporting document
- ethical-standards-government.pdf (PDF, 254.13 KB)
- Topic
- Ministers Coronavirus
- Keywords
- Ethical standards Public appointments
- Political party
- Conservative
- Position
- Health secretary Prime minister
- Administration
- Johnson government
- Department
- Department of Health and Social Care
- Public figures
- Matt Hancock Boris Johnson
- Publisher
- Institute for Government