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Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned following mounting pressure related to an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. Siddiq had previously referred herself to the prime minister's standards adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, amid questions concerning her connections to her aunt, who was removed from office as Bangladesh's prime minister last year.
Sir Laurie said he had "not identified evidence of improprieties" but it was "regrettable" that Siddiq had not been more alert to the "potential reputational risks" of the ties to her aunt. Siddiq said continuing in her role would be "a distraction" for the government but insisted she had done nothing wrong.
In a letter accepting Siddiq's resignation, Sir Keir said the "door remains open" for her.
Siddiq, whose role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury included tackling corruption in UK financial markets, was named last month in an investigation into claims her family embezzled up to £3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.
Her aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, who fled into exile after being deposed last year.
Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, also came under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt's allies.
The Financial Times reported that one of the properties, a flat in King's Cross, had been given to her by a person connected with the recently ousted Bangladeshi government.
According to the Mail on Sunday, in 2022 Siddiq had denied the flat was a gift and insisted her parents had bought it for her and had threatened the paper with legal action preventing publication of a story.
Labour sources subsequently told the newspaper the flat had been gifted to Siddiq by a property developer with alleged links to her aunt.
This had led to the public being "inadvertently misled" about the identity of the donor of the flat.
Sir Laurie said this was an "unfortunate misunderstanding" which had led to Siddiq issuing a public correction of "the origins of her ownership after she became a minister".
In a letter responding to Siddiq, Sir Keir said he accepted her resignation "with sadness" and thanked her for her "commitment" during her time as a minister. He said Sir Laurie had assured him that "he found no breach of the ministerial code and no evidence of financial improprieties on [Siddiq's] part".
Sir Keir's Holborn and St Pancras constituency is next door to Tulip Siddiq's Hampstead and Highgate seat. They were both elected MPs for the first time in 2015 and have enjoyed a close working relationship.
Labour MP Emma Reynolds has been appointed the new Economic Secretary to the Treasury to replace Siddiq.
