Individual Ministerial Responsibility

WHO? Lord Carrington (Foreign Secretary) in 1982

WHY? For failing to take due note of warnings that Argentina was planning a Falklands invasion

In the days before the invasion British intelligence became aware that a military crisis was fast approaching. Preparations to send a task force to repossess the Falklands began three days before they were invaded.

Once it broke, the news of the invasion exploded like a political bombshell. Parliament was recalled on a weekend for the first time in decades.

The Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, and two junior ministers had resigned by the end of the week. They took the blame for Britain’s poor preparations and plans to decommission HMS Endurance, the navy’s only Antarctic patrol vessel. It was a move which may have lead the Junta to believe the UK had little interest in keeping the Falklands.

WHO? Edwina Currie (Health Secretary) in 1988

WHY? Over salmonella in eggs

Health minister Edwina Currie has provoked outrage by saying most of Britain’s egg production is infected with the salmonella bacteria. Edwina Currie initially received support from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Health Secretary Kenneth Clarke.

She weathered the political storm for a further two weeks before mounting writs against her from the farming industry forced her resignation.

As egg sales plummeted, the government was forced to offer a compensation package of millions of pounds to cover the cost of purchasing surplus eggs and for the slaughter of unwanted hens.

WHO? Norman Lamont (Chancellor) in 1993

WHY? After the withdrawal of the UK from the European Monetary System

Norman Lamont’s departure from government was a result of Black Wednesday – when, as chancellor, he was forced to remove sterling from the ERM, despite earlier assurances that he would not do so. It was a crisis that severely rocked the government, destroying the Conservatives’ long-standing reputation for economic competence and calling into question John Major’s credibility as prime minister. There was much speculation of a leadership challenge unless the prime minister could regain his party’s confidence. Mr Lamont was heavily criticised for his role in Black Wednesday and came under considerable pressure to resign as chancellor in wake of the episode. But it was not for another eight months, in May 1993, that Mr Lamont resigned. In a speech to a hushed Commons, the former chancellor delivered a stinging attack on Mr Major’s government famously accusing it of “being in office, but not in power”. Mr Lamont’s resignation speech was not a fatal intervention but it did mark the beginning of what would be turbulent times for Mr Major and his government.

However, sometimes there have been calls for ministers to go and they have resisted:

WHO? Jacqui Smith (Home Secretary) in 2008

WHY? She said it was unsafe for her to walk the streets near her Peckham home

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/32073/Unsafe-streets-remark-ignites-row

WHO? John Prescott (Deputy Prime Minister) in 2006

WHY? Over his son’s property dealings in Prescott’s Hull constituency

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/politics/64534.stm

WHO? Charles Clarke (Home Secretary) in 2006

WHY? Over the foreign prisoners’ fiasco

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4946566.stm

By far the most common reason for ministers resigning are personal reasons
(i.e. not directly connected to their ability to run a particular department):

WHO? Peter Mandelson (TWICE!) in 1998 and 2001

WHY? Over his home loan (1998) and his relationship with the Hinduja brothers (2001)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/oct/17/qanda.mandelson

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1134392.stm

WHO? David Blunkett (TWICE!) in 2004 and 2005

WHY? Over allegations of fast tracking a visa for his lover’s nanny (2004) and a conflict regarding shares in a DNA company (2005)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4099581.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4398004.stm

WHO? Ron Davis (Welsh Secretary) in 1998

WHY? Over his so-called ‘moment of madness’ on Clapham Common

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/204691.stm

What is a resigning issue? (BBC News)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3422421.stm