New UK ethics watchdog chief sidelined over old police harassment case

Stuart Sterling has stepped back from running the Ethics and Integrity Commission, the body set up to police standards in government, after the Sunday Times revealed he was investigated in a previous job over alleged sexual misconduct involving female colleagues — and sanctioned in one case. A government spokesperson called the claims serious and said Sterling had stood aside while ministers move to establish the facts.

Sterling was named the commission's first chief executive in October 2025. The job put him at the centre of Labour's 2024 manifesto pledge to create a watchdog that would ensure probity in government after the Covid-era scandals, and gave him a direct role advising the prime minister on misconduct in public life.

According to the Sunday Times, Sterling faced a full misconduct hearing in 2003 as a junior officer with Northamptonshire Police, in a case treated as sexual harassment. The paper says he was accused of inappropriately touching a female colleague's breasts at a police station, reported by a male colleague who allegedly saw it, and suspended on full pay. His representative said a full disciplinary process was held over the 2002 complaint, that Sterling complied fully and that it ended in a sanction; the Sunday Times reported the penalty was two weeks' pay, the maximum short of forced resignation. He went on to collect two police commendations and a promotion to detective sergeant.

The paper also reported that by 2008 Sterling had been reported to the force again, this time over an allegation of sexual misconduct toward a female colleague at an off-duty social gathering. His representative said Sterling denies the incident ever happened, that he was never the subject of a criminal investigation, and that professional standards did examine the allegation. Sterling was not required to resign and left the force voluntarily, the representative added.

He joined the Cabinet Office in 2009 — it is not clear what vetting he went through — and later held a string of senior roles, including a 2019 secondment to the National Police Chiefs' Council. In 2023 he was awarded an OBE for helping plan Queen Elizabeth's funeral. The Cabinet Office is now expected to examine whether the right disclosures of information were made.