Professor Mark Knights on the history of misconduct in public office

"Allegations of misconduct in public office are not new and historically follow a recurring pattern: abuse of entrusted power, often (though not exclusively) for private gain; contested versions of what constitutes that abuse; public outrage amplified by the media, from 18th century pamphlets and caricatures to today's 24 hour news cycle; and, in some cases, piecemeal reform as a result of the scandal.

"Such cases have included royalty in the past. The concept of breach of trust was popularised in relation to the perceived misconduct of Charles I (which caused civil war!), and the sale of office by the Duke of York’s mistress in the early 19th century scandalised the nation.

"Whilst breach of trust has a longer history, misconduct in office was not a crime until the 18th century and even today remains a common law offence, not a statutory one – something that the new ‘Hillsborough law’ under consideration in Parliament seeks to change.

"What we see across British history is that scandals rarely transform standards overnight, but they can accelerate debates that are already under way about the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, what constitutes a breach of trust, who counts as a ‘public official’, the proper ethics of office-holding and business culture, and how to bring abusers to book. The historical significance of such cases is that they help to reshape society's expectations of integrity."