Minister asked to resign over misconduct allegation

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Minister asked to resign over misconduct allegation

A senior Conservative minister, Conor Burns, has been asked to resign his government post following an allegation of serious misconduct. A No 10 spokeswoman said Liz Truss had asked him to step down as a trade minister.

The prime minister has asked Conor Burns MP to leave the government with immediate effect, following a complaint of serious misconduct.

The prime minister took direct action on being informed of this allegation and is clear that all ministers should maintain the high standards of behaviour as the public rightly expects. He has had the Conservative whip suspended pending an investigation.

The Sun reported that the allegation was linked to his behaviour at the party conference in Birmingham earlier this week.

Burns was a close ally of Boris Johnson, as one of his inner circle who helped him through the various scandals that plagued his premiership.

He was a Northern Ireland minister before Liz Truss made him trade minister in September.

In 2020, Burns had to resign as a trade minister after being found to have used his position to try to intimidate a member of the public.

He was found by the standards committee to have made a series of veiled threats while trying to intervene in his father's dispute over a loan.

A whip spokesman said we have suspended the whip pending an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour earlier this week.

We take all of these allegations very seriously. The prime minister has been clear that the highest standards in public life must be upheld.