Liam Fox - Adam Werritty

Adam Werritty

During October 2011 Fox's relationship with a close friend Adam Werritty attracted extensive media attention and eventually led to Fox's resignation. Werrity, some 17 years younger than Fox, had been best man at his wedding, had lived rent-free in Fox's flat, and been involved with him in business and in the conservative Atlanticist think-tank The Atlantic Bridge. While Fox was Defence Minister, Werrity had visited Fox at the Ministry of Defence on many occasions, had accompanied Fox on numerous official trips, attended some of his meetings with foreign dignitaries, and had used official-looking business cards which said he was an "advisor" to Fox, all despite having no government post. The media raised questions about Fox's judgment in allowing this to happen, the nature of the men's relationship, and the source of Werrity's income.

In response, Fox initially requested Ursula Brennan, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, to investigate his connection with Werrity. Some of the meetings involved himself, Adam Werritty, Matthew Gould (before he was Britain’s Ambassador to Israel), and in some cases Denis MacShane himself. The Foreign Office responded by saying "The FCO has total confidence that Matthew Gould has acted appropriately at all times and at no stage was he acting independently, or out of line with government policy." .

On Sunday 9 October 2011, in advance of Brennan's initial report of the result of her inquiry to the Prime Minister, Fox made a statement apologising publicly for his conduct in relation to Werrity, denying wrongdoing but admitting errors of judgment in mixing his professional and personal loyalties. The inquiry was escalated and Fox resigned in advance of publication of the full report.

The full list of Fox's meetings for his time in office to date, 20 May 2010 to 8 October 2011, was published by the MoD after 7 pm on 10 October 2011 and revealed that Werrity was present at 40 of Fox's 70 engagements in that period (57%).

In 2005–6, Fox used public money, from his expense claims as an MP, to pay Adam Werritty.