Michael Fallon has resigned as defence secretary, admitting that his behaviour towards women in the past has “fallen short”, as the Conservatives struggle to contain the growing scandal about sexual harassment at Westminster.
Fallon apologised earlier this week over an incident 15 years ago in which he made unwanted advances to the journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer, repeatedly placing his hand on her knee – although Hartley-Brewer herself insisted: “No one was remotely upset or distressed.”
But friends of Fallon suggested that there may have been similar incidents more recently, saying: “He would absolutely concede that some of the flirtation has been inappropriate.” Allegations of inappropriate behaviour have been swirling around Westminster since the Harvey Weinstein abuse scandal encouraged women to speak out about their experiences of sexual abuse or harassment.
Asked if he feared any further revelations, Fallon told the BBC: “The culture has changed over the years. What might have been acceptable 10, 15 years ago is clearly not acceptable now. Parliament now needs to look at itself and the prime minister has made very clear that conduct needs to be improved.”
In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Fallon said: “A number of allegations have surfaced about MPs in recent days, including some about my previous conduct. Many of these have been false, but I accept in the past I have fallen below the high standards that we require of the armed forces that I have the honour to represent. I have reflected on my position and I am now resigning as defence secretary.”
In her reply to Fallon’s letter, the prime minister said: “I appreciate the characteristically serious manner in which you have considered your position, and the particular example you wish to set to servicemen and women and others.” She praised his “diligent service”.
Theresa May is expected to appoint a replacement on Thursday without embarking on a wider reshuffle – but pressure is likely to mount on first secretary of state Damian Green after disclosures made by a woman he knew.
A close ally of the prime minister, Green has strenuously denied making unwanted sexual advances towards Kate Maltby, an academic involved in Conservative politics. May ordered an investigation by the cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood into the claims on Wednesday.
Fallon resigned on the day May toughened her proposals for dealing with sexual misconduct in politics by promising that complaints could be referred to an independent body, as more accounts of incidents emerged.
A woman told the Evening Standard that a Conservative MP she worked for sexually assaulted her in her office at the House of Commons, approaching her from behind and grabbing at her crotch. In a separate account, James Greenhalgh, a former parliamentary intern, told the BBC he was approached outside one of the bars in the House of Commons by a former MP in 2011 who put his arm around him and then went on to assault him.
“He literally put his arm around me, very close, stinking of alcohol, I remember, and pointing out different things on the canvas [painting],” he said.
“I was interested to hear what he had to say, but I was thinking, ‘This is very … this is very touchy-feely here – what’s he doing?’ And suddenly his arm slipped down towards my buttocks, and he had a good feel round there and went a bit further in between my legs.
“It wasn’t very pleasant at all. I just didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what to do at all.”
The prime minister also invited other party leaders to a meeting about how to improve the system for dealing with sexual allegations early next week.
Dawn Butler, the shadow women and equalities secretary, blamed the overwhelmingly male makeup of parliament for the prevalence of sexual misconduct. “What is it about this place, with 650 MPs, 500-odd of them being male, and a lot of them having gone to private school and with a lot of people thinking that they are God’s gift in more ways than one? I don’t know,” she said.
Some MPs have partly blamed a culture of drinking at Westminster for creating situations where sexual harassment has arisen. Nadine Dorries, a Tory MP, suggested that MPs’ staff should be restricted from going to bars on the parliamentary estate in the evenings and that the Sport and Social Club where many drink should be shut down.
Fallon’s name was on the “sleaze list” spreadsheet of 40 Conservative MPs accused of sexual misbehaviour compiled by party staff, although the list has been largely discredited because many of the other entries on the list have proved to be innocuous or inaccurate.
Several Conservative ministers and MPs hit back at their wrongful inclusion on the sheet – some of which related to consensual relationships and affairs.
Writing in the Guardian, Michael Fabricant, a former Conservative whip, has said that his inclusion on the list for supposedly being “inappropriate with a male journalist in a taxi” was wrong and ridiculous.
“This is such a ridiculous claim that I decided to ‘out’ myself voluntarily by talking to the newspapers to speak out on this issue,” he said. “I am not particularly concerned about myself here. What does concern me, however, is the reputation of parliament and the damage that such claims can do. And what changes need to be made.”
He said an external body to investigate complaints in parliament would help protect both victims and the wrongly accused, and suggested that MPs should not employ staff directly any more, with contracts issued instead by a third party like the Cabinet Office.
Dominic Raab, a Tory minister, said the allegations against him of “injunction for inappropriate behaviour with a woman” were entirely false and malicious, and he described the circulation of untrue rumours as a “form of harassment and intimidation”. He said no such injunction had ever existed and he had never been “engaged in anything resembling sexual harassment, sexually abusive behaviour or lewd remarks” with staff.
Raab warned that while it was vital to investigate cases of abuse and harassment, he feared a “media feeding frenzy” from the widely shared list, adding that he had taken legal advice.
Rory Stewart, a minister for both the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development, is named on the list as supposedly having asked a parliamentary researcher, named as Sophie Bolsover, “to do odd things”.
In a statement, Bolsover, who no longer works for the MP, rejected this, saying: “During my time working in parliament, Rory Stewart was never anything other than completely professional and an excellent employer.”
Stewart said the appearance of his name of the list had been “deeply hurtful”. He said: “This story is completely untrue and deeply hurtful. Neither of us have any idea how our names appeared on the list.”
Two other researchers named on the list as victims of inappropriate behaviour by MPs also categorically denied allegations that anything untoward had happened.
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