Standards must improve under new leader, says ethics committee
STANDARDS must improve under the next Conservative leader, a member of the committee responsible for upholding and promoting ethical behaviour among MPs has insisted.
Alberto Costa, the longest-serving member of the Commons committee on standards, said there had been a “breakdown in good governance” during Boris Johnson’s premiership.
Mr Costa also sits on the privileges committee, which is to continue its investigation into whether the outgoing Prime Minister deliberately misled the House of Commons over partygate allegations.
“Every candidate should articulate very clearly how they propose to reestablish good governance,” he said.
“And I think that the principal way they can do that and uphold standards and integrity is to restore proper Cabinet government.
“The power of patronage was never intended that the prime minister should appoint people on the basis of their skill set for spreadsheets and campaigning in leadership elections.
“The purpose of the power of patronage is to allow unfettered the ability for the prime minister to appoint the very best candidate for the job.
“What we have to hear is how they propose to restore good government. It is not enough simply to say: ‘I am a person of integrity and I believe in upholding standards’. The question is: how?”
Mr Johnson was widely criticised among his own MPs in the 36 hours before his resignation for taking a “presidential” approach and refusing to immediately quit following the resignations of Sajid Javid as health secretary and Rishi Sunak as chancellor.
Mr Costa said the next leader should consult MPs about their top team and suggested backbenchers should be given the ability to block ministerial appointments they did not agree with.
“I would seek to get an understanding through the majority of parliamentary colleagues that the candidate is appropriate,” he said. “If through the whipping system colleagues are confirming their approval of the suggested names, then that would be a way a leadership candidate could genuinely demonstrate it.”
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, was reportedly the keeper of a spreadsheet used during both the 2019 Tory leadership contest and the recent confidence vote that detailed how many of his colleagues supported or opposed Mr Johnson.
Leadership candidates have already been keen to place higher ethical standards at the heart of their campaigns.
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, said in a Twitter video that his values were “non-negotiable”, urging supporters: “Let’s restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country.”
Tom Tugendhat, meanwhile, launched his campaign by saying Britain needed “a clean start and a government that will make trust, service and an unrelenting focus on the cost of living crisis its guiding principles”.
Mr Johnson’s final months in office have been marred by a series of ethics rows, including revelations about Downing Street parties during lockdown that culminated in a police fine.