Suella Braverman has resigned from her post as home secretary after sending a confidential document from her personal email to a colleague in parliament.

In her resignation letter to Liz Truss, Braverman said that the official document had been sent to a parliamentary colleague and constituted a technical infringement of the rules. She reported her actions on official channels and to the cabinet secretary as soon as she realised her mistake.

“The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes. Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if we can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics,” Braverman stated in her letter.

Braverman will be replaced in her role by former transport secretary Grant Shapps. She held the position for six weeks and ran for leadership of the Conservative party before losing to Truss.

Commenting on the news Achi Lewis, area VP EMEA for Absolute Software, said that the incident was a timely reminder that confidential documents and data can easily passed between colleagues, even if they do not have the right security clearance.

“With cybercrime and ransomware attacks on the rise, it is essential that organisations ensure their data is sufficiently protected through both preventative and reactive cybersecurity measures,” Lewis said.

Braverman’s resignation comes less than a week after Kwasi Kwarteng was replaced by Jeremy Hunt as chancellor after his mini budget caused chaos in financial markets.

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