London zoo boss quits amid claims of ‘unacceptable workplace behaviour’ | London

A former high-flying diplomat who was a close friend of George Osborne has resigned as head of London zoo after an investigation into “unacceptable workplace behaviour” was launched.

Matthew Gould, who previously worked at Downing Street and served as ambassador to Israel, resigned as chief executive of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) last week.

In a letter to staff, ZSL’s chairman of trustees, Jim Smith, wrote: “The investigation into allegations of unacceptable behavior in the workplace revealed that Matthew Gould’s behavior fell below the standard we expected. Gould resigned before the conclusion of this investigation.”

“We are committed to living up to our values ​​at every level of our organization and providing a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace for everyone.”

The chief executive of ZSL, which operates London zoo and Whipsnade zoo in Bedfordshire, has taken over as interim chief executive and is “focused on leading an organization that has integrity, honesty and accountability at its core”, Smith said.

No further details were given. “Planning my next move,” he wrote at the top of Gould’s LinkedIn account.

A ZSL spokesperson confirmed the contents of the letter to staff. He said: “This investigation did not relate to ZSL’s financial operations. This matter was dealt with promptly and appropriately and there is no wider impact on our staff or operations. We are not sharing any further details about an internal matter.”

The spokesperson added: “ZSL’s work continues unchanged and we are committed to maintaining a culture that aligns with our values ​​and ensuring the organization remains a supportive and respectful place to work.”

The resignation comes at a difficult time for ZSL, ahead of its bicentenary in 2026 and at a time when cuts to aid funding by the Trump administration and the UK government are forcing ZSL to seek savings.

In October it launched a voluntary redundancy plan in a bid to cut costs by £2 million a year. Gould said at the time that he could not rule out compulsory redundancies but was “doing everything possible” to avoid them.

The 54-year-old has known Osborne since they were members of the same chess club at St Paul’s, a state school in west London, and spoke at the former chancellor’s wedding to Thea Rogers in 2023.

Before joining ZSL, Gould was a career civil servant who held numerous senior government positions. After eight years as an assistant at the Foreign Office, including as a speechwriter to then Labor foreign secretary Robin Cook, he moved to Downing Street in 2007 to become private secretary of state for foreign affairs at the end of Tony Blair’s premiership.

This was followed by postings in Islamabad, Tehran and Washington DC, and for five years he served as the British ambassador to Israel.

During the Covid pandemic, he took a central role as the first chief executive of NHSX, the healthcare service’s digital innovation wing, and was appointed to the position by then-health secretary Matt Hancock, who was also Osborne’s former chief of staff.

Gould joined ZSL in September 2022 and told the Daily Telegraph in a 2023 interview that he stayed in London during the week before joining his wife Celia, a photographer and textile designer, and their two daughters at their home in Somerset for the weekend.

Referring to his time at the center of government during the pandemic, he said: “I found [that] It was really difficult trying to do really difficult things under intense pressure, under the intense attention of the public, the internet, the media and parliamentary scrutiny.

“I think it’s harder to be a public figure now. Respect is down. Suspicion and scrutiny is up.” [increased]. You needed a thick skin back then, but now you have to be a pretty strong character to survive the assumption of malicious intent and the constant search for evidence of wrongdoing. And the constant knowledge that at any moment someone could dump a bucket of feces on your head.”

Gould said of his work at ZSL: “I don’t want to say forever, but I don’t see anything I’d rather be doing.”