With allegations on both sides and less than 12 months into the role, the Overseas Territories Minister has stepped down from his post
Zac Goldsmith has resigned as a Foreign Office minister while accusing Rishi Sunak of being “uninterested” in the environment, however No 10 claims he quit after being told to apologize for undermining the parliamentary inquiry into former prime minister Boris Johnson.
The former MP’s resignation letter set out in detail his disappointment with the current prime minister for causing “paralysis” on the environment within Whitehall and choosing to attend the party of a media baron rather than an international environmental forum. The Tory peer quit the government, accusing Sunak of being “simply uninterested” in the environment and the climate emergency.
The prime minister’s office countered this assertion claiming Goldsmith had been asked to apologize for a post on his social media that appeared to challenge the privileges committee inquiry into whether Johnson misled parliament, stating that the comments were “incompatible” with his job in government and he had “decided a different course” rather than retract and apologize for his comments.
Goldsmith has relinquished his portfolio which included the overseas territories, the Commonwealth, the environment, energy, and climate.
