This is alist of political scandals in the United Kingdom in chronological order.Scandals implicating political figures orgovernments of the UK, often reported in themass media, have long had repercussions for their popularity. Issues in political scandals have included alleged or provenfinancial andsexual matters,[1] or various other allegations or actions taken by politicians that led to controversy.[2][3][4] In British media and political discourse, such scandals have sometimes been referred to aspolitical sleaze since the 1990s.[4] Notable scandals include theMarconi scandal,Profumo affair and the2009 expenses scandal.
This is adynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help byediting the page to add missing items, with references toreliable sources.
Liberator Building Society scandal,[5] in which theLiberal Party MPJabez Balfour was exposed as running several fraudulent companies to conceal financial losses. Balfour fled to Argentina, but was eventually arrested and imprisoned.
The Robert Boothby (Conservative), Tom Driberg (Labour), Kray brothers affair and consequent cover-up involving senior politicians of both parties. TheDaily Mirror published some details of the matter and was falsely sued for libel.[citation needed]
Britain's Nuclear Bomb Tests Scandal (1950s and 1960s): the catastrophic effects of nuclear testing in Australia and the South Pacific. Very serious environmental damage and health conditions emerged. Many communities and nationalities such as the Aborigine, South Pacific islanders, Australian and British were affected. Health conditions such as cancers, deformities, birth defects, premature deaths, nervous conditions and mental illnesses were reported. Genetic damage from ionising radiation, affecting many generations has also been reported. Campaigns to release MOD documents on blood tests and receive compensation have been continuing.[12][13]
Corrupt architectJohn Poulson and links to Conservative Home SecretaryReginald Maudling, Labour council leaderT. Dan Smith and others (1972–1974): Maudling resigned, Smith sentenced to imprisonment.
Earl Jellicoe andLord Lambton sex scandal (1973): Conservatives, junior defence minister Lambton is arrested for using prostitutes and Cabinet minister Jellicoe also confesses.
"Rinkagate": theThorpe affair. Liberal Party leaderJeremy Thorpe was arrested and tried for allegedly paying a hitman to murder his lover, model Norman Scott, while walking his dog on Exmoor; the hitman only shot the dog, Rinka. Thorpe was forced to resign due to his clandestine gay affairs, but was acquitted of conspiracy to murder.
Al Yamamah contract alleged to have been obtained by bribery (1985)
Westland affair (1986): The Defence Secretary,Michael Heseltine, resigned from his Cabinet job in a disagreement with Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher over the Westland affair. Heseltine walked out of a meeting atNumber 10 as his views on the future of the Westland helicopter company were being ignored at the time.[14]
Jeffrey Archer and the prostitute allegations (1986), and his subsequent conviction forperjury (2001)
Edwina Currie resigns as a junior Health minister after claiming that millions of Britisheggs were infected withsalmonella, stating that "most of [British] egg production" was infected (1988)
Back to Basics, a government policy slogan portrayed by opponents and the press as a morality campaign to compare it with a contemporaneous succession of sex scandals inJohn Major's government which led to the resignation ofTim Yeo and theEarl of Caithness, among others (1994)
Jonathan Aitken and theParis Ritz Hotel bill allegations, and his subsequent conviction for perjury after his failed libel action againstThe Guardian, resulting inAitken being only the third person to have to resign from the Privy Council in the 20th century. (1995)
Conservative MPJerry Hayes was "outed" as a homosexual by theNews of the World[15] with the headline "TORY MP 2-TIMED WIFE WITH UNDER-AGE GAY LOVER". Hayes had metYoung Conservative Paul Stone at the 1991 Conservative conference and that same evening, "committed a lewd act which was in breach of the law at the time". Stone had been 18 at the time, whilst the legal age for homosexual sex in 1991 was 21.[16] Hayes had previously supportedSection 28.[citation needed] (1997)
Bernie Ecclestone was involved in a political scandal when it transpired he had given theLabour Party a million pound donation – which raised eyebrows when the incoming Labour government changed its policy to allow Formula One to continue being sponsored by tobacco manufacturers. The Labour Party returned the donation when the scandal came to light. (1997)
Ron Davies resigned from the cabinet after being robbed by a man he met atClapham Common (a well-known gay cruising ground) and then lying about it (1998)
Keith Vaz, Peter Mandelson and theHinduja brothers. Mandelson was forced to resign for a second time due to misleading statements. (2001)
Jo Moore, within an hour of theSeptember 11 attacks, sent an email to the press office of her department suggesting: "It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury. Councillors' expenses?" Although prior to the catastrophic collapse of the towers, the phrase "a good day to bury bad news" (not actually used by Moore) has since been used to refer to other instances of attempting to hide one item of news behind a more publicised issue.
Ron Davies stood down from the Welsh assembly following accusations ofillicit gay sex. Davies had claimed he had beenbadger-watching in the area. (2003)[17]
In April 2004,Beverly Hughes was forced to resign as minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Counter Terrorism when it was shown that she had been informed of procedural improprieties concerning the granting of visas to certain categories of workers from Eastern Europe. She had earlier told theHouse of Commons that if she had been aware of such facts she would have done something about it.[18]
In 2005,David McLetchie, leader of theScottish Conservatives, was forced to resign after claiming the highest taxi expenses of any MSP.[19] These included personal journeys, journeys related solely with his second job as a solicitor, and Conservative Party business, for example travel to Conservative conferences. Conservative backbenchMSPBrian Monteith had thewhip withdrawn for briefing against his leader to theScotland on Sunday newspaper.
David Mills financial allegations (2006).Tessa Jowell, Labour cabinet minister, was embroiled in a scandal about a property remortgage allegedly arranged to enable her husband,David Mills, to realise £350,000 from an off-shore hedge fund, money he allegedly received as a gift following testimony he had provided forSilvio Berlusconi in the 1990s.[21] Nicknamed by the press as "Jowellgate".[22]
Cash for Honours (2006). In March 2006 it emerged that the Labour Party had borrowed millions of pounds in 2005 to help fund theirgeneral election campaign. While not illegal, on 15 March the Treasurer of the party,Jack Dromey, stated publicly that he had neither knowledge of nor involvement in theseloans and had only become aware when he read about it in the newspapers. A story was running at the time that DrChai Patel and others had been recommended forlife peerages after lending the Labour party money. He called on theElectoral Commission to investigate the issue of political parties taking out loans from non-commercial sources.[23]
Angus McNeil (2007). The marriedSNP MP who made the initial police complaint over thecash for honours scandal was forced to make an apology after it was revealed that in 2005 he had a "heavy petting" session with two teenage girls aged 17 and 18[25][better source needed] in a hotel room at the same time his wife was pregnant with their third child.
In November 2007, it emerged that more than £400,000 had been accepted by the Labour Party from one person through a series of third parties, causing the Electoral Commission to seek an explanation.[26]Peter Watt resigned as the General Secretary of the party the day after the story broke and was quoted as saying that he knew about the arrangement but had not appreciated that he had failed to comply with the reporting requirements.[27]
Derek Conway (2008): The Conservative Party MP was found to have reclaimed salaries he had paid to his two sons who had in fact not carried out the work to the extent claimed. He was ordered to repay £16,918, suspended from theHouse of Commons for 10 days and removed from the party whip.[29]
Cash for influence (2009): Details of covertly recorded discussions with fourLabour Party peers which covered their ability to influence legislation and the consultancy fees that they charged (includingretainer payments of up to £120,000) were published byThe Sunday Times.
United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal (2009): Widespread actual and alleged misuse of the permitted allowances and expenses claimed by Members of Parliament and attempts by MPs and peers to exempt themselves from Freedom of Information legislation.
TheIris Robinson scandal in whichFirst Minister of Northern IrelandPeter Robinson stepped aside for six weeks in January 2010 following revelations of his wife's involvement in an extramarital affair, her attempted suicide, and allegations that he had failed to properly declare details of loans she had procured for her lover to develop a business venture.
On 29 May 2010Chief Secretary to the TreasuryDavid Laws resigned from theCabinet and was referred to theParliamentary Commissioner for Standards afterThe Daily Telegraph newspaper published details of Laws claiming around £40,000 in expenses on a second home owned by a secret partner between 2004 and 2009, whilst House of Commons rules have prevented MPs from claiming second home expenses on properties owned by a partner since 2006. By resigning Laws became the shortest serving Minister in modern British political history with less than 18 days' service as a Cabinet Minister.
On 14 October 2011Secretary of State for DefenceLiam Fox resigned from theCabinet after he "mistakenly allowed the distinction between [his] personal interest and [his] government activities to become blurred" over his friendship withAdam Werritty. (He again served as a cabinet minister underTheresa May.)
In February 2012, Liberal Democrat MPChris Huhne resigned from the Cabinet when he was charged withperverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case. His wifeVicky Pryce had claimed that she was driving the car, and accepted the licence penalty points on his behalf so that he could avoid being banned from driving. Huhne pleaded guilty at his trial, resigned as a member of parliament, and he and Pryce were sentenced to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice.[31]
In October 2012,Andrew Mitchell resigned from his post asChief Whip following allegations made about his conduct during an altercation with police at Downing Street on 19 September, the incident becoming known as "plebgate".[34]
In April 2014Maria Miller, theCulture Secretary, resigned following pressure relating to the results of an investigation into her past expenses claims.[36]
On 20 November 2014Emily Thornberry resigned her shadow cabinet position shortly after polls closed in theRochester and Strood by-election. Earlier in the day, she had received criticism aftertweeting a photograph of a house in the constituency adorned with threeflags of St. George and the owner'swhite van parked outside on the driveway, under the caption "Image from #Rochester", provoking accusations ofsnobbery. She was criticised by fellow Labour Party MPs, including leaderEd Miliband who said her tweet conveyed a "sense of disrespect".[37][38]
In September 2015,Lord Ashcroft published a biography ofDavid Cameron, which suggested that the then Prime Minister took drugs regularly and performed an "outrageous initiation ceremony" which involved inserting "a private part of his anatomy" into the mouth of a dead pig during his time in university. This became known as "piggate".[40]The Independent reported that Cameron had told friends the claim was "utter nonsense".[41] The biography also led to questions about the Prime Minister's honesty with party donors' known tax statuses as Lord Ashcroft suggested he had openly discussed hisnon-domiciled status with him in 2009, earlier than previously thought.[42]
In 2017 thecontaminated blood scandal, in which many haemophiliacs died from infectedFactor medicine, hit the headlines and Parliament with allegations of an "industrial scale" criminal cover-up.[43] MP Ken Clarke retracted remarks from his autobiography[44] relating to the scandal and a public inquiry was initiated.
TheAlex Salmond scandal concerned how theScottish Government, led by incumbentfirst minister of ScotlandNicola Sturgeon, breached its own guidelines in its investigation into the harassment claims against Sturgeon's predecessor as first minister,Alex Salmond. The Scottish Government lost a judicial review into their actions and had to pay over £500,000 to Salmond for legal expenses.[49] Salmond claimed that senior figures in Sturgeon's government and the rulingScottish National Party (SNP) conspired against him for political reasons.[50][51] Critics accused Sturgeon of breaking theministerial code which resulted in calls for her resignation.[49] Sturgeon disputed the allegations, arguing that while mistakes had been made, her government acted appropriately.[50]
In November 2021, theParliamentary Commissioner for Standards found that Conservative MPOwen Paterson had broken paid advocacy rules, but instead of approving his suspension, the government enforced a three-line whip on Conservative MPs to pass a motion that the investigation was "clearly flawed". After an outcry from opposition parties, the government made a U-turn and Paterson resigned.[56][57]
Neil Parish, Conservative MP forTiverton and Honiton, resigned in April after it was discovered that he had watched pornography in the House of Commons on at least two occasions.[61]
Chris Pincher scandal: The deputy chief whip of the Conservative Party,Chris Pincher, resigned on 30 June following allegations about him groping two men.[62] Further allegations of harassment emerged against Pincher, along with claims that prime ministerBoris Johnson had already been informed of his behaviour.[63] The incremental effect of this and other recent controversies led to the resignation of 59 Conservative politicians, includingRishi Sunak as chancellor andSajid Javid as health secretary. This in turn led toBoris Johnson committing to resign as leader of theConservative Party, and thus as prime minister when his replacement as leader had beenchosen by his party.
Operation Branchform: APolice Scotland investigation into possible fundraising fraud in theScottish National Party begun in 2021 came to a head in 2023 with the arrests of SNP Chief ExecutivePeter Murrell, Party TreasurerColin Beattie, and former Party Leader andFirst Minister of ScotlandNicola Sturgeon over a three-month period. Both Peter Murrell and Colin Beattie resigned their party roles immediately after their arrests. The highly publicised arrests and perceived delays in bringing the investigation (which continued for nearly two more years) to a conclusion led both the SNP's supporters and its opponents to claim that the investigation had been politicised.[64][65][66][67][68] Murrell was ultimately charged with embezzlement in 2024 and appeared in court for the first time in March 2025.[69][70]
Michael Matheson iPad scandal: Scottish Health SecretaryMichael Matheson incurred nearly £11,000 inroaming charges after taking aScottish ParliamentaryiPad on a family holiday toMorocco. When this was publicised, Matheson initially attempted to claim the charges as a parliamentary expense, but later admitted that the iPad had been used by his sons to stream football matches and agreed to personally pay back the full cost of the data roaming bill. Following an investigation by theScottish Parliament Corporate Body, Matheson resigned as Health Secretary in February 2024. Matheson was subsequently banned from Holyrood for 27 days and had his salary withdrawn for 54 days, the heaviest sanction ever given to an MSP.[71]
SirJeffrey Donaldson, the leader of theDemocratic Unionist Party, was accused of rape and other sexual offences against two victims dating back to 1985.[72] He resigned with immediate effect, stating that he would be strenuously contesting the charges and was suspended from the party.[73][74]
In March 2024,The Guardian reported thatFrank Hester, the largest ever donor to the Conservative Party, had made comments in a 2019 company meeting about the MPDiane Abbott. The paper reported that he said that looking at Abbott makes you "want to hate all black women" and that she "should be shot", as well as making comments about a female executive from another organisation, saying "it would be much better if she died", and about his own Asian female employees, saying "we take the piss out of the fact that all our Chinese girls sit together in Asian corner".[75]
In August, the government's Under-Secretary of State for HomelessnessRushanara Ali resigned after reports that she had evicted tenants from a property she was renting out before re-listing the house for rent at a higher price, a practice which Ali was at the time attempting to ban with theRenters' Rights Bill.[80][81] Ali was also accused of violating existing tenancy law by charging the tenants for cleaning and repainting costs.[82]
Nathan Gill, a formerMEP and regional leader ofReform UK in Wales, was discovered to have taken bribes from people connected to the Russian government to advance a pro-Russia agenda in the European Parliament.[83]
^"UK health chief caught in embrace that broke COVID rules".Al Jazeera. Retrieved5 July 2021.The United Kingdom was gripped by a political scandal on Friday as a tabloid newspaper published images of health chief Matt Hancock kissing an aide – an embrace that broke social-distancing rules.
^"Biggest Tory donor said looking at Diane Abbott makes you 'want to hate all black women'".The Guardian. 11 March 2024. Retrieved11 March 2024.The Guardian has learned of a 2019 meeting at TPP's headquarters in which Hester spoke about an executive from another organisation, saying: 'She's shit. She's the shittest person. Honestly I try not to be sexist but when I meet somebody like [the executive], I just ... It's like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV and you're just like, I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she's there, and I don't hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot. [The executive] and Diane Abbott need to be shot. She's stupid ... If we can get [the executive] being unprofessional we can get her sacked. It's not as good as her dying. It would be much better if she died. She's consuming resource. She's eating food that other people could eat. You know?'
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