Boris Johnson’s policy chief quits over PM’s ‘scurrilous’ Savile remark

Boris Johnson’s longstanding policy chief, Munira Mirza, has dramatically quit over the prime minister’s attempt to associate Keir Starmer with the failure to prosecute paedophile Jimmy Savile.

In a strongly worded resignation letter obtained by the Spectator, Mirza told Johnson: “This was not the usual cut and thrust of politics; it was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case” of child sexual abuse.

Munira’s departure was regarded at Westminster as a serious blow to Johnson, who was under pressure to overhaul his Downing Street operation after the senior civil servant Sue Gray identified failures of leadership.

The prime minister had earlier sought to row back from the Savile claims on Thursday, saying “a lot of people have got very hot under the collar”.

“Let’s be absolutely clear, I’m talking not about the leader of the opposition’s personal record when he was director of public prosecutions and I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions,” Johnson said on a visit to Blackpool.

“I was making a point about his responsibility for the organisation as a whole. I really do want to clarify that because it is important.”

That was not enough to placate Mirza, however. In her resignation letter, she told him: “You tried to clarify your position today but, despite my urging, you did not apologise for the misleading impression you gave.”

She said Johnson was “a better man than many of your detractors will ever understand”, adding that it was “so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition”.

A No10 spokesperson said: “We are very sorry Munira has left No 10 and are grateful for her service and contribution to government.”

Johnson moved quickly to replace Mirza, promoting Andrew Griffith to head up the No 10 policy unit as a minister in the Cabinet Office.

A wealthy former Sky executive, Griffith lent Johnson his £9.5m townhouse as a campaign base during his 2019 leadership bid. Now the MP for Arundel and South Downs, he has been serving as Johnson’s parliamentary private secretary – liaising with MPs.

Mirza, often seen as a proponent of Downing Street’s “war on woke”, had worked with Johnson for more than a decade, including at City Hall when he was mayor of London. He previously identified her as one of the five most inspiring women in his life. Her partner, Dougie Smith, is also a senior Tory adviser.

Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings claimed Mirza’s departure was “an unmistakeable signal the bunker is collapsing and this PM is finished”. He urged ministers to show a similar “flicker of moral courage”, and resign.

The controversy began on Monday, when Johnson launched an attack on Starmer during a testy Commons exchange about a damning document on alleged Covid rule-busting parties in No 10 and across Whitehall.

In response to the Sue Gray inquiry, Starmer called on Tory backbenchers to “end this farce” and oust Johnson.

The prime minister replied by accusing Starmer of trying to “prejudge a police inquiry”, adding that as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, Starmer had “spent most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”.

In fact, Starmer took no personal role in decisions connected to Savile’s case when he was director of public prosecutions – though he did apologise on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service for failings in the handling of the case.

At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Starmer accused Johnson of “parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists” for political gain. A Tory MP and former chief whip, Julian Smith, also said the “smear” was “wrong and cannot be defended”.

Several cabinet ministers, including Nadine Dorries and Michael Gove, have since defended the remarks, however, with the justice secretary, Dominic Raab, calling it part of the “cut and thrust” of parliamentary debate.

Before prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reminded MPs of the importance of being truthful in the House of Commons.