Boris Johnson’s most senior black adviser resigns as minister says ‘I don’t even know who he is’

Boris Johnson’s most senior black adviser has told colleagues he will resign from his role next month amid intense criticism of the government’s landmark race report.

Samuel Kasumu notified Downing Street chief-of-staff Dan Rosenfield last week about his decision to step down from the role, according to Politico.

No 10 rejected suggestions that the decision was linked to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report that concluded Britain was no longer a country where the “system is deliberately rigged” against ethnic minorities.

But the timing of his departure will be awkward for Downing Street, which is facing a growing backlash over the report – including from former Race Disparity Unit chief, Lord Simon Woolley, who described it as being “steeped in denial”.

Government minister Gillian Keegan appeared unaware of Mr Kasumu’s resignation when questioned on Thursday, telling Times Radio: “I don’t even know who he is.”

In a separate interview, she added: “It’s a personal matter. When somebody resigns, it’s a personal matter. I can’t defend or talk about why he has resigned.”

A No 10 spokesperson said: “Mr Kasumu has played an incredibly valuable role during his time at No 10. As he previously set out, he will be leaving government in May – this has been his plan for several months and has not changed.

“Any suggestion that this decision has been made this week or that it is linked to the CRED report is completely inaccurate”.

In a previous resignation letter, which the BBC reported Mr Kasumu retracted in February after being persuaded to stay on, the No 10 adviser wrote to the prime minister raising concerns that the Conservative Party was pursuing “politics steeped in division” and claimed tensions in government were “unbearable”.

“The gains made under David Cameron in 2015 have been eroded in subsequent elections,” he said.

The adviser had also suggested Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, may have broken the ministerial code over her public outburst at then Huff Post journalist Nadine White, who recently joined The Independent.

“I believe the ministerial code was breached,” he wrote. “However, more concerning than the act, was the lack of response internally.

“It was not OK or justifiable, but somehow nothing was said. I waited, and waited, for something from the senior leadership team to even point to an expected standard, but it did not materialise.”

Addressing his resignation on Thursday, the shadow equalities minister Marsha de Cordova claimed: “To have your most senior adviser on ethnic minorities quit as you publish a so-called landmark report on race in the UK is telling of how far removed the Tories are from the everyday lived experiences of black, Asian and minority ethnic people”.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Middlesbrough, the prime minister thanked Mr Kasumu for his work on encouraging vaccine take-up among “more hesitant groups and communities”, when quizzed on his resignation.

“It is true that different groups have been coming forward at different paces, everybody is increasing their take-ups, so I thank him very much for that.”

Addressing the race report on Thursday, Lord Woolley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “People like myself, we have seen really, really shocking times, but there were many young people that went to the streets for Black Lives Matter and demanded change.

“And I think, actually, their cries for change and for a nation to confront its inequalities, its uncomfortable truths, has been heard in many ways. I don’t think it’s been heard in government but I do think it’s been heard in businesses.”