Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq Resigns

Tulip Siddiq MP was appointed as Economic Secretary to the Treasury last year (Alamy)

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Siddiq has been subject to controversy around her financial and property links to her aunt, the deposed former leader of Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests Sir Laurie Magnus said he had found no breach of the Ministerial Code and no evidence to suggest that she had acted improperly in relation to the properties she has lived in or owned.

However, he said Siddiq’s handling of the links in question had been “regrettable”.

In a letter to Starmer, the Labour MP said: “My family connections are a matter of public record, and when I became a Minister I provided the full details of my relationships and private interests to the Government.

“After extensive consultation with officials, I was advised to state in my declaration of interests that my aunt is the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and to recuse myself from matters relating to Bangladesh to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest.”

However, she said it was “clear” that continuing as a Treasury minister would be a “distraction from the work of the Government”.

“My loyalty is and always will be to this Labour Government and the programme of national renewal and transformation it has embarked upon,” she said. 

“I have therefore decided to resign from my Ministerial position. I would like to thank you for the privilege of serving in your Government, which Iwill continue to support in any way Ican from the backbenches.”

Starmer wrote in a letter to Siddiq that he accepted her resignation “with sadness”.

“I want to thank you for self-referring to the Independent Adviser and for your full co-operation with the establishment of facts,” he said.

“I appreciate that to end ongoing distraction from delivering our agenda to change Britain, you have made a difficult decision and want to be clear that the door remains open for you going forward.”

In a letter to Starmer, Magnus wrote that it was “regrettable” that Siddiq was “not more alert to the potential reputational risks – both to her and the Government – arising from her close family’s association with Bangladesh”.

“I would not advise that this shortcoming should be taken as a breach of the Ministerial Code, but you will want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this,” he continued.

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