Sir Alan Duncan became the first minister to resign from the government today, ahead of Boris Johnson’s likely promotion to become the next prime minister. In a letter to Theresa May handing in his resignation, Duncan said that he had left government before the expected change on Wednesday so he could be ‘free to express my views in advance of you relinquishing office.’
But while Sir Alan would no doubt like to present his departure as a ‘principled’ refusal to serve in a Johnson administration, Mr S has to wonder if that’s really credible, considering the Foreign Office minister’s own various positions on Brexit (and Boris) in the past.
Here are a selection of Duncan’s highlights:
Leaving Vote Leave
In 2016 it was reported that Duncan had lobbied Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of Vote Leave, to join the board of the organisation ahead of the Brexit referendum.
When he was snubbed, Duncan decided instead to campaign for Remain, and went on to accuse his pro-Brexit colleagues of offering a ‘fanciful pretence’.
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