Tulip Siddiq resigns

Tulip Siddiq has resigned as a Treasury minister after repeated questions about her financial links to the ousted Bangladeshi government run by her aunt.

She resigned on Tuesday saying that she had fully declared all her financial interests and relationships but it was clear that the situation had become a distraction for the government.

She wrote on her x handle: "An independent review has confirmed that I have not breached the Ministerial Code and there is no evidence to suggest I have acted improperly.

Nonetheless, to avoid distraction for the Government, I have resigned as City Minister."

Siddiq, who was the City and anti-corruption minister, was not found to have broken any rules by Laurie Magnus, the adviser on ministerial standards.

The resignation comes after weeks of difficult headlines for the British government over Siddiq. She pulled out of a landmark trip helmed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves over the weekend in order to assist the independent adviser with his investigation.

She had earlier this month referred herself to Starmer’s adviser on ministerial standards, after it emerged she had lived in multiple properties associated with people with links to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted leader.

The former Bangladeshi prime minister stepped down last year after a popular uprising.

Siddiq was under pressure over her occupancy of several properties, including a two-bedroom flat near King’s Cross in central London and a separate home in Hampstead.

Emma Reynolds has been promoted to City minister following Siddiq’s exit. Torsten Bell, the former chief executive of the Resolution Foundation economics think tank, will take over from Reynolds as pensions minister.