Toby Young has resigned from his position at the Office for Students, following intense criticism over controversial comments.
Mr Young’s was appointed on the 1st January, with the last 8 days seeing a media storm regarding his position, which culminated in a petition calling for his dismissal gathering over 200,000 signatures.
Much of the fury directed towards Mr Young was a result of numerous derogatory tweets he had made, namely repeated remarks concerning women’s breasts. Elsewhere, comments he made in the Spectator in 2012 attacking “inclusivity” were criticised.
In a piece for the Spectator, Mr Young apologised for his comments, which he said were “ill-judged or just plain wrong”, adding that his appointment had ultimately turned into a “distraction” from the “vital work” that the Office for Students could potentially offer.
Elsewhere in his resignation article, Mr Young said that a “caricature” had been drawn of him during the past week that was “unrecognisable”.
He wrote: “I am a passionate supporter of inclusion and helping the most disadvantaged, as I hope my track record of setting up and supporting new schools demonstrates.
“But some of the things I said before I got involved in education, when I was a journalistic provocateur, were either ill-judged or just plain wrong – and I unreservedly apologise.”