Ethics adviser to scandal-hit UK leader Boris Johnson quits

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The ethics adviser to scandal-hit British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has quit and accused the government of seeking to flout conduct rules. In a resignation letter, Christopher Geidt said he was put in an “impossible and odious position” because the government asked him to advise on measures which would “risk a deliberate and purposeful breach of the Ministerial Code. The resignation comes weeks after an investigator’s report criticized the British leader for “failures of leadership and judgment” for presiding over rule-breaking in government by allowing parties that breached coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Geidt’s resignation is the latest blow for Johnson, who survived a no-confidence vote by his own Conservative Party last week.