Liz Truss, who is likely to be prime minister next week, has indicated that she may not appoint an ethics adviser. She said she has “always acted with integrity”, so there is no need for an official to advise her.
As with many other aspects of British politics, ethics advisers and the code they abide by do not exist as part of written law. The British constitution is essentially the compound of laws and conventions. It is famously unwritten, but only in the sense of there being no single codified document. In practice, it is “written” as ruling parties accept and observe conventions. These conventions may come about in reaction to wrongdoing and controversy.
