French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard quit today over his handling of a scandal about his state-paid luxury flat that rocked a conservative government as it forces unpopular cost-cutting measures on a restive nation.
"I have decided to hand to the prime minister my resignation as minister of economy, finance and industry," he said in a statement.
"I am aware of having made blunders and a serious error of judgment concerning the conditions of my official accommodation." "My decision is consistent with the political vision that drives me, and which will continue to drive me, tomorrow like yesterday, in my service to my country," he said.
The move came less than five hours before Mr Gaymard was to go on national television to explain why he, his wife and eight children had moved into a vast €14,000-euro a month flat paid for by the cash-strapped state.
French ministers are entitled to official accommodation but the price of his flat, even for central Paris, was deemed unacceptably extravagant by many critics once it was known.
Mr Gaymard (44), had denied any wrongdoing but quit the 600sq m split-level home in a chic Paris district that was initially the centre of the controversy when it erupted a week ago.
The extra costs of converting the flat to his family's needs dismayed public and politicians alike. His pledge to reimburse the costs failed to abate the sense of shock.
Mr Gaymard's situation was aggravated by his flip-flop accounts of the status of his property portfolio and personal finances, prompting Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin to give him until the end of the week to end a controversy that was seriously damaging an already unpopular government.
His fate appears to have been sealed by a report that he owned five homes, including another large flat in central Paris, coming at the same time as a glossy society magazine quoted him as saying "I'm not loaded" and that the row would not have erupted if he had had the money to buy his own apartment.
That from a man who, aides confirmed, owns five homes, his constituency office and was rich enough to pay a special wealth tax last year.