The resignation of a Johnson adviser increases the pressure on Downing Street

MADRID, 16 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The resignation of a Downing Street ethics adviser who had deemed it "legitimate" to suggest that Prime Minister Boris Johnson may have broken party rules amid the COVID-19 pandemic has added further pressure on the government, that the opposition asks for clarifications.

Christopher Geidt's resignation, which emerged Wednesday night, adds new doubts about Johnson's inner circle. The exact reasons for his departure have not been disclosed and Geidt has limited himself to saying that it was "the right thing to do".

The Government has been "surprised" by a decision that it has said it regrets, according to the BBC. A spokesman said Geidt had been asked for his opinion this week on "a sensitive trade issue of national interest", without elaborating.

The Minister of Justice, Dominic Raab, has promised that Downing Street will give more explanations throughout the day, although he has recalled the pressure Geidt has been subjected to this week by politicians and the media as a result of his statements.

The outgoing adviser had not only expressed his discomfort at the management of the scandal around the parties, but had previously distanced himself from the official line in the investigations opened by the renovations of the prime minister's home.

The Labor Party has asked the Executive for more transparency when reporting the departures of its staff, since Geidt's has been added to that of his predecessor in office and another, last week, of an adviser on issues of the fight against corruption. The opposition formation has presented an urgent question to the Government in the House of Commons.