Tulip Siddiq referred herself to the UK's independent adviser on ministerial standards before resigning. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP, file)
In short:
Tulip Siddiq has resigned as Treasury minister after weeks of questions over her financial ties to her aunt, ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina.
Ms Siddiq denied any wrongdoing but said the issue was a distraction for the government.
What's next?
She became the second UK government minister to resign in two months.
A British minister responsible for tackling corruption has resigned after weeks of questions over financial ties to her aunt, ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Tulip Siddiq consistently denied any wrongdoing and UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said she had his full support last week.
She had been named in a Bangladesh corruption probe into her aunt last month.
The 42-year-old had held the portfolio for financial services policy, which included responsibility for anti-money laundering measures.
In a statement, Ms Siddiq said that although an independent investigation she requested into her affairs found she had not breached the ministerial code of conduct, her position was "likely to be a distraction from the work of the government."
"I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position," she said.
The government's ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus said in his letter to Sir Keir, released at the same time, that he found it regrettable she was "not more alert to the potential reputational risks" from her family's close association with Bangladesh.
"You will want to consider her ongoing responsibilities in the light of this," Mr Magnus said.
Sir Keir said he accepted Ms Siddiq's resignation with "sadness".
"In accepting your resignation, 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 wrote in his letter to Ms Siddiq.
He swiftly appointed Emma Reynolds, who was a pensions minister, to Ms Siddiq's role.
In a post on X at the weekend, opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said Ms Siddiq's position was "completely untenable".
"Keir Starmer dithered and delayed to protect his close friend [Tulip Siddiq]," Ms Badenoch said.
Bangladesh corruption probe spark questions
Ms Siddiq was named last month in an anti-corruption probe launched against her aunt in Bangladesh.
The investigation alleged that Ms Siddiq's family was involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.
The anti-corruption commission alleged financial irregularities worth billions of dollars in the awarding of the $US12.65 billion nuclear power contract, saying both Ms Hasina and Ms Siddiq may have benefited.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, third right, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, third left, and Tulip Siddiq, left, attend a signing ceremony in Russia in 2013. (AP Photo: Mikhail Metzel, Pool, file)
The then-minister faced further questions about her links to her aunt's regime, after reports in the Sunday Times and Financial Times newspapers alleged she had used two London apartments given to her by associates of Bangladesh's Awami League, led by her aunt.
The reports said Ms Siddiq lived in a north London property given to her family in 2009 by Moin Ghani, a Bangladeshi lawyer who has represented Hasina's government, documents filed with Companies House and the Land Registry show.
She also acquired a separate property in London in 2004, without paying for it, from a developer linked to the Awami League, Hasina's political party, the Financial Times reported this month.
Ms Siddiq was the second minister to resign from the Labor government in two months.
Louise Haigh resigned from the transport portfolio after admitting to pleading guilty to a fraud charge in 2014.
Reuters/AP/ABC
