Labour suspends MP over ‘sex texts’
Anger as rookie given Defence Secretary job Ex-Chief Whip is accused of forcing out Fallon
TORY MPs last night blasted Theresa May’s decision to make Chief Whip Gavin Williamson the new Defence Secretary.
The shock appointment sparked a backlash as Mr Williamson, known for keeping a tarantula on his desk, was accused of helping to force out Sir Michael Fallon before landing his job.
One Tory MP branded Mr Williamson a “self-serving c***” while a colleague said the appointment had gone down “like a cup of cold sick”.
Another told how MPs were “livid” and described it as Mrs May’s “biggest and probably last mistake”.
The reaction was another hammer blow for the PM’s authority, which is already fading amid her party’s Brexit civil war and after her botched general election gamble.
Veteran minister Sir Michael quit when Mrs May refused to back him after he admitted repeatedly placing his hand on the knee of journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer at a dinner in 2002.
It is understood Sir Michael feared more allegations would emerge.
And it is claimed Mr Williamson helped force him out before landing the plum role – despite being a military novice who has never held a ministerial job. One minister told the BBC Mrs May “is so weak she has let Williamson appoint himself ”.
Downing Street insisted Mr Williamson did not take part in talks about the mini-reshuffle.
He was given the job because he was “an excellent, hard- working Chief Whip and the Prime Minister thinks he will make an excellent Defence Secretary”, her spokesman said.
No10 was unable to point to any exper ience Mr Williamson had of defence, and would not say if the PM discussed his appointment with military chiefs. Tory backbencher and retired Army Colonel Bob Stewart suggested Mr Williamson, 41, “won’t know much about defence”. And Tory MP Sarah Wollaston tweeted: “I think it would have been worth reflecting whether there were others that were more experienced and suitable.” Ambitious Mr Williamson said he was “absolutely flabbergasted” at his promotion, which, he claimed, came “completely out of the blue”. Mr