Senior U.K. Official Resigns After Being Outed

Britain's chief secretary to the Treasury announced his resignation following revelations that he had paid his same-sex partner for lodging using taxpayer funds.

Liberal Democrat David Laws stepped down on May 29, reported UK newspaper The Times on May 30. In a televised address, Laws, reading from a prepared statement, said, "This is my decision alone," and went on to note, "At this important time, the Chancellor [of the Exchequer] needs, in my own view, a chief secretary who is not distracted by personal troubles."

Laws emphasized that his motive had been to keep his sexual orientation and his relationship quiet, and pointing out that he had not benefited financially.

The Times said that Danny Alexander has replaced Laws, who served in appointed post for less than three weeks. The Times notes that Laws had been regarded as "one of the stars of the coalition" government that now leads Britain after an election that gave no single party a decisive majority. Laws had been in charge of a deficit-reduction program.

In a letter of resignation to newly-elected Prime Minister David Cameron, Laws wrote, "I do not see how I can carry on my crucial work on the budget and spending review while I have to deal with the private and public implications of recent revelations."

The "revelations" to which Laws referred was the news that he had broken the rules regarding personal expenses by expensing �40,000 in rent on the government's tab. The money went to Laws' partner, lobbyist James Lundie, even though the rules specify that claimed expenses "must not be used to meet the costs of ... leasing accommodation from a close business associate, or a partner, or a family member," the Times reported. The rules also specify that "partner" is to be defined as "one of a couple, whether of the same sex or of the opposite sex (the other being a member) who although not married to each other or civil partners are living together and treat each other as spouses." Law initially claimed that he had not broken the letter of the rules, saying, "Although we are living together, we did not treat each other as spouses--for example, we do not share bank accounts and indeed have separate social lives." However, in political circles, the two were known as a couple, the Times said. The scandal broke on May 29.

Laws has promised to repay the money. He said that he had not been out to his family prior to the media coverage.

"I am very sorry to lose David from the Treasury," said Chancellor George Osborne. "It was as if he had been put on earth to do the job that was asked of him. I spoke to David several times over the past 24 hours and I have a huge admiration for the way he has conducted himself in the most difficult circumstances."

The Times reported on May 30 that Laws' career had been without blemish until the scandal broke. But while Laws' career--and the fledgling coalition government--has sustained a blow, Law faces even deeper distress in his personal life, having hidden his true sexuality for so many years. "When I grew up, being gay was not accepted by most people, including many of my friends," said Laws. "So I have kept this secret from everyone I know for every day of my life. I was so determined to keep my sexuality a secret that James and I behaved as if we were just good friends."

The couple had been living together since 2004, the Times said, and Law had been renting rooms from Lundie.

Laws had gotten off to a dramatic start, announcing �6 billion in cuts just the Monday before the scandal hit headlines. Laws' earlier career was as an investment banker; UK newspaper the Guardian noted in a May 27 article that he had become a millionaire by age 28. At the age of 22, he was already a vice president at JP Morgan & Co; he also served for two years as managing director at Barclays, a London-based international financial services concern.