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  1. Politics
31 January 2018updated 28 Jun 2021 4:40am

Watch: remarkable scenes as minister resigns for being late

By New Statesman

Junior Dfid minister Michael Bates has stunned the House of Lords by resigning his post after arriving late for ministerial questions.

Bates, who has been a Conservative peer since 2008, and a minister since 2016, arrived late to the House and was unable to take a question from Ruth Lister, an academic and Labour peer.

To the surprise of the House, Bates announced that he would resign as a result, and walked out, despite shouts of “No!” from all sides of the house. 

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