Why is Labour calling on Gavin Williamson to resign?

Why has Labour chosen today to call for Gavin Williamson to resign as Education Secretary? This morning, shadow education secretary Kate Green released a statement saying ‘it is time for Gavin Williamson to go’, arguing that his ‘record throughout this pandemic has been shambolic’ and ‘he has bounced from one crisis to another without learning from his mistakes or listening to the parents, pupils and hard-working education staff who have been left to deal with the fallout’.

It’s true that Williamson has had probably the worst pandemic out of any minister and that the rows and mistakes don’t seem to be going away, either. But even with that list of problems, there isn’t currently a head of steam behind calls for Williamson to go. So the timing seems odd. Even more so when you consider that this is the first time the party under Keir Starmer’s leadership has called for anyone to resign or be sacked.