Following the news that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under renewed pressure over rehiring Suella Braverman due to “multiple” breaches of the ministerial code, Martin Williams, Head of Employment at leading law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, shared his thoughts on how this situation would play out in the average workplace.

Martin Williams said:

“A week can appear be a long time in politics, but it is always the same length. 

“Whether Suella Braverman resigned voluntarily, was asked to resign, or was sacked is not necessarily the main issue, especially now she is back in post. 

“The reason she left was because there was a fundamental breach of the, apparently, important rules that govern her conduct as a minister of state. 

“Such a breach in the commercial world would entitle an employer to dismiss without notice and payment in lieu of notice. 

“The employment would be untenable after such a high-level security breach. Even worse if there were a series of breaches. 

“Taking an employee back in such circumstances would be bizarre on so many levels. It is beyond comprehension. 

“Would a new employer be of the same mind? Most probably, if they knew all the publishable details. 

“And yet, Suella Braverman is back at her desk. 

“It appears that political time passes in a different way because it is a different world altogether.”