The preface of the Ministerial Code details the importance of winning the trust of the British public, and in the eyes of Johnson – whose name is signed at the bottom of the page – this begins with upholding Ministerial integrity. A few unacceptable behaviours are listed within the first page; these are as follows: ‘there must be no bullying, and no harassment; no leaking; no breach of collective responsibility [cont.], no misuse of taxpayer money and no actual or perceived conflicts of interest.’ 

Priti Patel has seen numerous allegations of breaking the Ministerial Code. In November 2017, Patel resigned from May’s Government after having fourteen unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers, businesspeople and lobbyists – meetings in which May was left in the dark. In her resignation letter, she stated that her actions ‘fell below the high standards expected of a secretary of state’.

In 2017 Patel was also accused of bullying staff members of her private office, and again in 2020, she was accused of bullying and harassing senior civil servants. Similarly, in September 2021, Labour accused Patel of breaking the ministerial code by setting up a private meeting between a Tory donor and British Airways. Both the Home Secretary and the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng attended with no civil servants.