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Louis Staples
May 02, 2019
When Theresa May announced in 2017 that Gavin Williamson would be her new defence secretary, people had a lot to say about it.
It’s fair to say, his colleagues weren’t impressed by someone with so little experience being offered a top job.
Check out this sub-tweet from former Tory MP Sarah Wollaston…
Another allegedly described the appointment as “ludicrous”.
"Unbelievable. Ludicrous. Astonishing": one backbench Tory's reaction to May's decision to make Gavin Williamson defence secretary.— Heather Stewart (@Heather Stewart) 1509621063
While others were, well, far less polite.
Female Tory MP on Gavin Williamson in the tea room: "a self-serving cunt". https://t.co/3jWo9qQjd4— George Eaton (@George Eaton) 1509633771
In that time we've seen some true highlights, like when he swam in ice water...
Great weekend with the Royal Marines in the Artic Circle. They practised their legendary “ice breaker” drill in wh… https://t.co/n0KwUVZhcN— Lucy Fisher (@Lucy Fisher) 1550440820
Or when he told Russia to "go away" and "shut up".
"Frankly Russia should go away, it should shut up" - UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson asked about Russia's res… https://t.co/M0RO9szGT3— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1521113881
Or when he posed with dangerous dogs.
Though sadly for Williamson, his stint in the role has come to an abrupt end after the prime minister sacked him following a leak of information.
May believes that Williamson leaked information regarding Chinese tech giant Hauwei’s role in building Britain’s 5G network to the press. In a letter to Williamson, the PM said that she had “lost confidence in his ability to serve”.
Wow. Gavin Williamson has been sacked over Huawei leak. No10: “The Prime Minister’s decision has been informed by… https://t.co/5RAXZBmz7y— Paul Waugh (@Paul Waugh) 1556729508
PM letter to Gavin Williamson https://t.co/ZJbMm9t2Bn— Beth Rigby (@Beth Rigby) 1556729844
Now three opposition parties are calling for a police investigation into what happened.
Three opposition parties calling for police investigation into @Huawei leak which @GavinWilliamson denies responsib… https://t.co/mi2jIS5yvg— Glenn Campbell (@Glenn Campbell) 1556745839
In response, Williamson has come out fighting, even swearing on his children’s lives that he and his staff had nothing to do with the leak.
Denials do not come much more categoric than this from @GavinWilliamson. @theresa_may does not have a new friend on… https://t.co/HkUvmidOrh— Robert Peston (@Robert Peston) 1556733957
Spoken to Gavin Williamson. He swore on his children’s life to me that he didn’t leak the Huawei news and neither d… https://t.co/TrnKVH8LCs— Alistair Bunkall (@Alistair Bunkall) 1556732265
Naturally, given that everyone loves a bit of political drama and, for once, this is nothing to do with Brexit, people have had a field day online.
The jokes and memes soon flooded in.
BREAKING: Several bookmakers file for bankruptcy as Chris Grayling outlasts Gavin Williamson.— Have I Got News For You (@Have I Got News For You) 1556735122
Imagine being so bad you get sacked from a Cabinet Chris Grayling is still in.— Benjamin Butterworth (@Benjamin Butterworth) 1556729822
Gavin Williamson sacked. I wonder Huawei.— Stig Abell (@Stig Abell) 1556729583
imagine being sacked by Theresa May for confidence being lost in you https://t.co/My37nfxJlq— Mollie Goodfellow (@Mollie Goodfellow) 1556729633
chris grayling is taking notes right now so he knows exactly what it is he has to do in order to finally be sacked— Abby Tomlinson (@Abby Tomlinson) 1556730420
Farewell Gavin Williamson, Defence Secretary who came up with innovative ideas including: -Mounting machine guns on… https://t.co/QtpqNNEJIU— Paul Johnson (@Paul Johnson) 1556734621
People will say Gavin Williamson didn’t achieve much during his time as defence secretary. Don’t listen to them https://t.co/UbIU9HJCSV— Alan White (@Alan White) 1556733258
no one: gavin williamson: I SWEAR ON MY KIDS LIFE— Abby Tomlinson (@Abby Tomlinson) 1556737298
Teresa May says she has got a sieve that’s less leaky than Gavin Williamson. #Huawei— Elizabeth Windsor (parody) (@Elizabeth Windsor (parody)) 1556732997
This is not the first time Gavin Williamson has leaked stuff, I can think of at least another time he did...it ende… https://t.co/kGPmVPCH2o— Jess Phillips MP (@Jess Phillips MP) 1556746082
Two words Labour will shout back next time the Tories claim Jeremy Corbyn's a threat to national security: "GAVIN WILLIAMSON."— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin Maguire) 1556734628
Better luck next time, Gav.
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