U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s effective deputy, Damian Green, resigned after an official investigation found that he’d made misleading statements about pornography on one of his parliamentary office computers, and left questions unanswered about his behavior towards a female activist, Bloomberg reports.
“I am extremely sad to be writing this,” May wrote in a letter to Green, released by her office, asking him to quit. “We have been friends and colleagues throughout our whole political lives.”
His departure strips her of one of the most loyal members of her government as she seeks to steer Britain’s path out of the European Union and rescue her struggling premiership. The 61-year-old and May knew each other since they were at Oxford University and he is one of her closest political allies - ushered into the Cabinet after her election debacle.
He is the third member of her cabinet to leave office since the start of November. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon quit over inappropriate sexual behavior while Priti Patel stepped down as international development secretary after she misled the premier over private meetings with Israeli officials.