Hunt’s special adviser resigns

There’s been a resignation this morning, but it is not Jeremy Hunt’s. Instead, it’s his special adviser Adam Smith. Smith’s departure before Hunt’s Commons statement at 12:30 is designed to put a firebreak around the Secretary of State. In his resignation statement, Smith declares that ‘the content and extent of my contact was done without authorisation from the Secretary of State’. This provides Hunt with his response to any questions about the nature of the text messages between Smith and Frederic Michel.

But special adviser appointments are very personal. Secretaries of State talk constantly to their special advisers and it is remarkable that Smith and Hunt never discussed what he was telling Michel. It is also worth noting that ministers are, under the ministerial code, responsible for their special advisers.