Fallon, the lost lieutenant

A week of mounting crisis for Theresa May began when Defence Secretary Michael Fallon resigned last Wednesday, saying his past behaviour “may have fallen below the high standards” expected. A female journalist had accused him of repeatedly touching her knee at a function in 2002; another said he had given her an unexpected and unwelcome kiss.

Fallon had been one of May’s most stalwart lieutenants, often deployed to speak for the government in broadcast interviews. His resignation was a blow to May — made worse when she upset many Conservative lawmakers by replacing him with the widely mistrusted Gavin Williamson, a disciplinarian chief party whip.