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Indy100 Staff
May 01, 2019
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has been sacked by Theresa May after being revealed as the source of the Huawei leak.
According to a Downing Street spokesperson, Mr Williamson's firing follows Theresa May losing confidence in the former Chief Whip's ability to "serve in the role of defence secretary and as a member of her cabinet."
International development secretary - and a Portsmouth MP, Penny Mordaunt, has been appointed to replace Williamson and will be the first woman in history to take up the position as Defence Secretary,
Williamson has held the position of Defence Secretary since 2017 where his appointment was met with cattiness and mockery from the Twitter masses, MPs and journalists alike.
At the time, his hiring was seen as controversial with claims that he wasn't qualified, not to mention a steady stream of jokes about that fact that during his time as Chief Whip he kept a pet tarantula on his office desk.
Many at the time felt Williamson was out of his depth
Text from senior Tory MP about Gavin Williamson: "He's out of the shitstorm. Knifed Fallon and pinched his job. It's way above his ability."— Lewis Goodall (@Lewis Goodall) 1509620506
Minister emerging from Commons tea room describes Gavin Williamson appointment as 'the most unpopular political decision I have ever known'— Jason Groves (@Jason Groves) 1509622089
Tory MP: "Gavin Williamson is an oily, greasy ingratiator who is now in a job where his severe limitations will be on display."— Kevin Schofield (@Kevin Schofield) 1509635009
Tory MP on Gavin Williamson: "When a man keeps a pet tarantula it's because he doesn't have a better story to tell."— Jim Pickard (@Jim Pickard) 1509634891
"Unbelievable. Ludicrous. Astonishing": one backbench Tory's reaction to May's decision to make Gavin Williamson defence secretary.— Heather Stewart (@Heather Stewart) 1509621063
Most positive response I've had so far from a Tory MP on Gavin Williamson: "He'll be fine."— Lewis Goodall (@Lewis Goodall) 1509626303
Needless to say, news of his firing hasn't come as a surprise to many
Gavin Williamson. Transforming the phrase 'leaking intelligence' into a valid description of character.— Stephen McGann💙 (@Stephen McGann💙) 1556732141
Imagine how bad you have to be to have lost the confidence of someone in whom every single person in the country ha… https://t.co/qJgycry475— David Schneider (@David Schneider) 1556732182
Gavin Williamson @GavinWilliamson https://t.co/3CTx0QKeJz— Gerz (@Gerz) 1556732262
For this to be your most famous soundbite ... #GavinWilliamson https://t.co/zNzDaQ1iyK— Jeremy Vine (@Jeremy Vine) 1556732244
I get v strong revenge/50 year grudge/'List of People Who Have Crossed Me' vibes from Gavin Williamson so I for one… https://t.co/cGWuTIkOt1— Kirsty Strickland (@Kirsty Strickland) 1556732471
Gavin Williamson is either very, very confident in his innocence, or playing a very, very silly and risky game here.— James Ball (@James Ball) 1556732539
Tory Gavin Williamson. From Fire Place Salesman to National Security Risk. That’s his memoirs sorted. Twat.— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael Swindon) 1556732546
Amazing. Gavin Williamson - the man who called Jeremy Corbyn a "security risk" has just been fired.... for being… https://t.co/VMu5UOzbXk— EL4C (@EL4C) 1556732551
Stay up to date with the latest details to emerge from the firing on Independent.co.uk