John Edwards, the UK's information commissioner and the country's top data and AI regulator, has resigned after an independent investigation found he made “inappropriate attempts at humour” that caused offence.
“I have accepted that there have been occasions where I exercised poor judgement and made attempts at humour that were inappropriate and caused offence,” Edwards said in a statement on Friday. The resignation was confirmed by the government, which said it had come after an independent probe “that took place regarding allegations made against him”.
“John Edwards resigned as UK information commissioner after an investigation found he made inappropriate attempts at humour.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “The government expects the highest standards of conduct from all senior leaders in public life. Mr Edwards has acknowledged that his conduct fell below these standards.”
Edwards had been information commissioner since early 2022, leading the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the body responsible for regulating AI, data protection and freedom of information in the UK. He voluntarily stepped back from his duties at the end of February to enable the workplace investigation, the ICO said. On 10 June, the ICO announced the investigation had concluded, finding “there is a case to answer” and that the commissioner would be “temporarily unable to act”.
On Friday, the ICO confirmed his resignation, saying the investigation made clear “that his behaviour fell short of the conduct expected from a public official”. When asked by the BBC, the organisation would not elaborate on the specific findings or whether they concerned the “poor judgement” and “inappropriate humour” Edwards described.
In a statement on his LinkedIn page, Edwards said that while he disagreed with how the investigation had been carried out, “I accept that my position has become untenable”. He said he did not want to become “a distraction” from the ICO’s work and had notified the government of his resignation as both commissioner and chair of the ICO “effective immediately”.
The ICO said its board and executive team would continue to lead the organisation “to ensure continuity in our leadership and regulatory work”. Edwards’s resignation comes amid increased scrutiny over the ICO’s handling of data protection complaints from the public.
Campaign groups the Good Law Project and the Open Rights Group (ORG) …