Theresa May had already lost one cabinet minister this week, and now she’s lost another. On Wednesday, U.K. Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel submitted her resignation from the prime minister’s cabinet over her breach of the U.K.’s ministerial code during a family vacation to Israel in August. “I accept that in meeting with organizations and politicians during a private holiday in Israel my actions fell below high standards that are expected of a Secretary of State,” Patel wrote in her resignation letter. May, in response, said: “Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign and adhere to the high standards of transparency and openness that you have advocated.”
Patel’s resignation comes exactly one week after the ouster of former Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, who stepped down amid Westminister’s ongoing sexual-harassment scandal, which has so far implicated dozens of men on both sides of the House of Commons. But it also comes during a week of chaos for May, who, in addition to losing her defense secretary, has been faced with political crises across her cabinet. Soon after the resignation of Fallon, it was revealed that Damien Green, her secretary of state and de-facto number two, has also been implicated in Westminster’s sexual-harassment scandal after allegations surfaced that he made inappropriate advances toward a young woman, coupled with claims that “extreme” pornography was found on one of his work computers nearly a decade ago. Green has denied the claims, which he dismissed as “political smears.”