May picks loyalist to be defense chief
Conservative leader braces for key votes on budget, Brexit.
British Prime Minister Theresa May bought herself breathing space on Thursday as she parachuted in ultra-loyalist Gavin Williamson to replace Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, but her respite could be short-lived.
This might not be the last high-profile casualty in the sex scandal rocking Westminster and May’s slender majority could come under threat if lawmakers are forced to quit Parliament by revelations about their activities. Allegations of impropriety rattling the political establishment have cut across party lines.
In just sixweeks, Maywill need to come up with what promises be a politically fraught proposal to settle exit payments to the European Union and will need the backing of her lawmakers to try and bring calm and order to government.
“Appointing Williamson as defense secretary is not a verywell-judged decision; there are plenty of people in the Tory Party who are far more qualified for the job,” said Matt Beech, director of the Centre for British Politics at the University of Hull. “It shows the extent to which she is torn between two warring factions in the government— the Brexiteers and Remainers — so she is forced to pick from loyal lieutenants.”
The promotion of Williamson, who was in charge of party discipline in the House of Commons, was surprising in some ways as he lacks defense experience. As chief whip, part of his brief was to advise May on appointments and her office was forced to deny that he was involved in his own appointment.
“I think it would be worth reflecting whether there were others that were more experienced and suitable for that role,” Tory lawmaker Sarah Wollaston, a critic of government policies, told the BBC.
The forced reorganization also leaves management of disgruntled lawmakers in the House of Commons in the hands of a new chief whip, Julian Smith, who, like Williamson, backed Remain in lastyear’s Brexit referendum.
Fallon announced his resignation late Wednesday, referring oblique ly to “allegations” about his private life. On Monday, he had admitted repeatedly touching a female journalist’s leg during a dinner. That was prompted by women speaking out about their experiences in British politics in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
“There has been this sense that people can use positions of power to demand things from others and that has got to stop,” Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson told the BBC. “It’s not actually about sex, it’s about power; it’s always been about power, and we a selected representatives have to hold ourselves to a higher standard .”
May’s deputy, Damian Green, has strongly denied allegations that he made inappropriate approaches to a female Tory activist. The prime minister has asked her most senior official to “establish the facts” of the allegations.