Dominic Raab has resigned following a report into allegations that he bullied civil servants, but reacted angrily to the findings against him.
He stepped down as deputy prime minister and justice secretary after Rishi Sunak received the results of an investigation by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC.
Raab faced bullying claims from multiple officials he worked with at the Foreign Office, Ministry of Justice and now-defunct Brexit department.
In a resignation statement posted on Twitter on Friday morning, Raab said he felt “duty bound” to quit but sharply criticised the report as “flawed”.
He said the inquiry would “encourage spurious complaints against ministers” by “setting the threshold for bullying so low”.
In his letter to the prime minister, Raab said: “Tolley concluded that I had not once, in four and a half years, sworn or shouted at anyone, let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimidated anyone, nor intentionally sought to belittle anyone.
“I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice.
“That is, however, what the public expect of ministers working on their behalf.”
Raab has previously said he is not a bully and always “behaved professionally” towards staff.
Keir Starmer said Sunak’s failure to sack Raab, instead allowing him to resign, demonstrated the prime minister’s weakness. “He should never have appointed him in the first place,” the Labour leader said.
Raab also faces a major battle to hang on to his Esher and Walton seat, which he has held since 2010 but which is a major target for the Lib Dems at the next election.
The Lib Dems have demanded Raab resign as an MP immediately and trigger a by-election.
Raab was a close ally of Sunak and an early supporter of his first leadership bid against Liz Truss last summer.