ONE of LIZ Truss’s senior advisers has had his suspension lifted just two days after the announcement of an ethics probe into alleged misconduct.
Jason Stein was suspended on Wednesday after allegations emerged that he was responsible for unauthorised negative briefings against Tory MPs.
Following the allegations, it was announced he would face a formal investigation from the Propriety and Ethics Team at Westminster. However, after just two days it has been announced by No 10 that the inquiry has concluded and his suspension ended.
No10 press secretary on Jason Stein PET investigation into briefing: “The investigation has concluded and the suspension has ended.”
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) October 21, 2022
Leading up to the investigation there had been anger from some Tory MPs over media briefings from Downing Street sources.
A report from The Sunday Times referenced a No 10 source saying that Sajid Javid had not been considered for the chancellor’s position following Kwasi Kwarteng’s sacking because he is “s**t”.
Prior to her becoming Prime Minister, Stein had worked with Truss when she was chief secretary to the Treasury and also had a stint with Jeremy Hunt during his 2019 bid to be Tory leader.
He later acted as an adviser to Amber Rudd and Prince Andrew.
However, Stein left his role with the prince just before his disastrous interview with Emily Maitlis where he discussed claims that he sexually abused Virginia Guiffre – allegations that Prince Andrew has denied.
Stein would then join up with Truss again for her leadership campaign.
And according to Politico, Stein had been given credit for “turning around Truss’s initially wooden presentational skills”, despite one source from Rishi Sunak’s leadership campaign team labelling him a “grade A bullshitter”.
Back in 2020, Stein told Politics Home that he had “sympathy” for Boris Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings after he became the focal point of the media’s attention following his trip to Barnard Castle.
“As someone who has very much become the story before, I have sympathy for Dom in that particular respect,” Stein said.
“It's not especially fun but it can be an occupational hazard and it is sometimes unavoidable. Increasingly advisers are becoming more and more interesting to people."
Liz Truss announced her resignation as Prime Minister the day after Stein’s suspension was announced.
