Tulip Siddiq has resigned as a Treasury minister after controversy over links to her aunt’s ousted political movement in Bangladesh.

In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, the Hampstead and Highgate MP said while she had “not breached the ministerial code”, continuing in her post would be “a distraction from the work of the government”.

Politics Live: Reaction to minister’s resignation

Ms Siddiq has been under pressure over allegations about properties linked to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed as Bangladesh’s prime minister in August following an uprising against her 20-year leadership, and now faces a corruption probe.

She previously insisted she had “done nothing wrong” but referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics watchdog, Sir Laurie Magnus, last week.

In a letter to Sir Keir, the independent adviser called it “regrettable” Ms Siddiq “was not more alert to the potential reputational risks” arising from her close family’s association with Bangladesh.

He said this “shortcoming” should not be taken as a breach of the ministerial code, “but you will want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this”.

Sir Laurie reviewed Ms Siddiq’s financial affairs and the background of properties she owns or has occupied and said he found no evidence of any “improprieties” in her actions.

In his reply, Sir Keir said he has accepted Ms Siddiq’s resignation “with sadness”, adding: “I also wish to be clear that Sir Laurie Magnus as Independent Adviser has assured me he found no breach of the ministerial code and no evidence of financial improprieties on your part.”

He praised her for making the “difficult decision” to resign nonetheless and said “the door remains open for you” going forward.

Ms Siddiq has been an MP since 2015 and is probably best known for campaigning for the release of her constituent Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, who was detained in Iran for six years.

Downing Street has announced Wycombe MP Emma Reynolds has been appointed to replace her in the Treasury, and Torsten Bell will take Ms Reynolds’ previous role in the Department for Work and Pensions.

Ms Siddiq had the role of city minister, which meant she was responsible for illicit finance and corruption.

The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition had called for Ms Siddiq to resign earlier this week, accusing her of a “serious conflict of interests” regardless of whether Sir Laurie found she had breached the ministerial code.

In a post on X, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of “dither and delay to protect his close friend”, saying it became clear over the weekend Ms Siddiq’s position “was completely untenable”.

Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat’s Cabinet Office spokesperson, said: “After years of Conservative sleaze and scandal, people rightly expected better from this government.”

What are the allegations facing Ms Siddiq?

It is alleged that Ms Siddiq lived in properties in London linked to allies of Ms Hasina, who is facing an investigation by an anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh.

This includes a £2.1m house in Finchley which the MP rents and which is owned by businessman Abdul Karim Nazim, an executive member of her aunt’s Awami League party’s UK branch.

In referring herself to Sir Laurie for investigation, Ms Siddiq said much of the reporting surrounding her financial affairs and links to Bangladesh had been inaccurate and “I am clear that I have done nothing wrong”.

Ms Siddiq has also been named in Bangladesh court documents as allegedly helping her aunt broker a 2013 deal with Russia for the Rooppur nuclear power plant, which she denies.

Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission has also alleged she was involved in the illegal allocation of plots of land in the diplomatic zone of a development near Dhaka to her mother, sister and brother.

A Labour source said she totally refutes the claims and had not been contacted by anyone on the matter.

Ms Siddiq had been due to join a delegation heading to China last week, but stayed in the UK to fight to clear her name.

But further pressure mounted after Sky News discovered historical blog posts she wrote describing campaigning with her aunt in Bangladesh’s general election and celebrating her victory.

Ms Siddiq had previously said she and her aunt never spoke about politics.

The Times also reported the MP’s Labour Party flyers and a thank you note to local Labour Party members after she was elected as an MP were found in the palace in Dhaka that belonged to her aunt.

Comedian and actor Tony Slattery has died aged 65 following a heart attack, his partner has said.

The actor was famous for appearing on the Channel 4 comedy improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and other series such as Just A Minute and Have I Got News For You.

He had recently been touring a comedy show and launched his podcast, Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club, just a few months ago, in October.

A statement made on behalf of his partner, Mark Michael Hutchinson, said: “It is with great sadness we must announce actor and comedian Tony Slattery, aged 65, has passed away today, Tuesday morning, following a heart attack on Sunday evening.”

Born in 1959, Slattery went to the University of Cambridge alongside contemporaries Dame Emma Thompson, Sir Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

While there, he served as president of the legendary Cambridge Footlights improvisation group.

Alongside Sir Stephen and Dame Emma, he was the winner of the first Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. He was also one of the original patrons of Leicester Comedy Festival, along with Norman Wisdom and Sean Hughes, and had been a rector at the University of Dundee.

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Slattery spoke regularly about his bipolar disorder and in 2020 revealed that he went bankrupt following a battle with substance abuse and mental health issues.

He told the Radio Times that his “fiscal illiteracy and general innumeracy” as well as his “misplaced trust in people” had also contributed to his money problems.

He released a BBC documentary called What’s The Matter With Tony Slattery? in the same year, which saw him and Hutchinson visit leading experts on mood disorders and addiction.

Comedians pay tribute to ‘dazzling talent’

Comedians including Richard K Herring and Al Murray are among those who have paid tribute.

“Really sad news about Tony Slattery,” Murray wrote on X. “Such a dazzling talent.”

Tom Walker, best known as the satirical journalist personality Jonathan Pie, said news of Slattery’s death was “absolutely heartbreaking”, and described the comedian as a “genius”.

As well as comedy improvisation shows, Slattery appeared in films in the 1980s and 1990s, including crime thriller The Crying Game, black comedy How To Get Ahead In Advertising, alongside Richard E Grant, and Peter’s Friends, which also starred Laurie, Sir Stephen and Dame Emma.

His film and TV credits also included Carry On Columbus, Robin Hood, Red Dwarf, The English Harem, Cold Blood, The Royal, Just A Gigolo, Tiger Bastable and Coronation Street.

On stage, he received an Olivier Award nomination for best comedy performance in 1995, for the Tim Firth play Neville’s Island, which was later made into a film starring Timothy Spall. He also starred in Privates On Parade, based on the film of the same name, as impersonator Captain Terri Dennis, and made his West End debut in the 1930s-style musical Radio Times.

Slattery is survived by Hutchinson, an actor, and his partner of more than three decades.

Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after controversy over links to her aunt’s ousted political movement in Bangladesh.

The Hampstead and Highgate MP is probably best known for campaigning for the release of her constituent, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in Iran for six years.

Politics latest: Embattled City minister leaves government

The mother-of-two also hit the headlines in 2019 when she delayed having a C-section so she could vote against Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, turning up to parliament heavily pregnant and in a wheelchair.

After giving birth she went on to make history by becoming the first MP to vote by proxy.

Ms Siddiq was first elected to parliament in 2015, in what was then the most marginal seat in the country, and before that served as a local councillor in Camden.

The 42-year-old is a niece of Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August following an uprising against her 20-year leadership.

In blog posts written in late 2008 and early 2009, when she was a Labour activist, Ms Siddiq described campaigning with her aunt in the south Asian country’s general election and celebrating her victory.

Ms Siddiq’s maternal grandfather was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s first president, who was assassinated along with most of his family in a military coup in 1975.

Her mother and aunt survived because they were abroad at the time – her mother going on to claim political asylum in the UK, where the Labour MP was born.

Ms Siddiq lived in south London until she was five then spent 10 years living in different parts of Asia, including India and Bangladesh.

She returned to the UK capital as a teenager, where she has lived ever since.

Ms Siddiq has previously described having an “unusual childhood”, when she met the likes of Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela.

She said she joined the Labour Party because of the NHS, but living in places like Bangladesh made it “hard not to be political because politics plays an everyday part in your life”.

However, it is her links to the country’s political dynasty that have brought her down.

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Ms Siddiq has been under pressure since December, when she was named in court documents which detailed claims her family embezzled billions of pounds from a nuclear power project in Bangladesh.

She is alleged to have helped coordinate meetings with the Russian government regarding the Rooppur nuclear infrastructure scheme in 2013.

She has also come under scrutiny over reports she lived in properties in London linked to allies of her aunt.

The Conservatives had called for Ms Siddiq to be sacked, while Bangladeshi leader Muhammad Yunus said London properties used by the MP should be investigated and handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery”.

Ms Siddiq insists she has “done nothing wrong”, but last week referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics watchdog.

At the time, Sir Keir Starmer said she had “acted entirely properly” in referring herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent ethics adviser, and said he had “full confidence” in her.

Ms Siddiq returns to the backbenches just six months after getting a job in government.

She was appointed the economic secretary to the Treasury after Labour’s election victory in July.

As the city minister – or anti-corruption minister as the role is often called – she held responsibility for financial crime and illicit finance.

Before the general election, she held shadow positions for the Treasury and education departments under Sir Keir Starmer.

She was also part of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet between 2016-17 but resigned over his order not to “block” the bill to trigger Article 50 and start Britain’s exit from the EU.