Minister quits just two days after publicly defending Boris Johnson
One of the ministers who was asked to pedal Boris Johnson’s false account of the Chris Pincher affair has resigned.
Will Quince confirmed he was leaving his role as minister for families and children, referencing ‘inaccurate’ briefings he received from Number 10.
He publicly defend the prime minister on TV just two days ago before the official story unraveled completely.
Now Mr Quince has quit his role, publicly accusing Downing Street of misleading him in the process.
The MP for Colchester wrote on Twitter: ‘With great sadness and regret, I have this morning tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister after I accepted and repeated assurances on Monday to the media which have now been found to be inaccurate.
‘I wish my successor well – it is the best job in government.’
A wave of resignations was triggered when health secretary Sajid Javid left the cabinet in disgust at the handling of the affair.
Who has resigned from the government so far?
- Sajid Javid - health secretary
- Rishi Sunak - chancellor
- Will Quince - minister for children and families
- Alex Chalk - solicitor general
- Bim Afolami - Tory vice chair
- Laura Trott - PPS at the Department of Transport
- Andrew Murrison - trade envoy to Morocco
- Jonathan Gullis - PPS to the Northern Ireland secretary
- Saqib Bhatti - PPS to the health secretary
- Nicola Richards - PPS for the Department for Transport
- Virginia Crosbie - PPS at the Welsh Office
- Theo Clarke - trade envoy to Kenya
Minutes later, chancellor Rishi Sunak walked, two moves which threatened to bring down the government entirely.
There has been a steady drip of resignations in the hours since, including from solicitor general Alex Chalk and PPS Laura Trott.
She said in a Facebook post: ‘Trust in politics is – and must always be – of the upmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost.’
Seniors figures within the Conservative Party like ex-Brexit secretary Lord Frost and former leader William Hague have publicly warned Mr Johnson that the game is up.
Mr Johnson propped up his government last night by drafting in Nadhim Zahawi to run the Treasury and Steve Barclay to take over at education.
But he faces two tough tests in the Commons today, both of which could prove to be hugely damaging.
First, Mr Johnson will face a hostile chamber for prime minister’s questions at noon, where he may face public calls for him to go from his own backbenchers.
The PM is due to appear before the liaison committee later in the afternoon to be grilled by a panel of MPs.
Mr Zahawi cautioned his colleagues against walking away, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme: ‘All I would say to my colleagues is people don’t vote for divided teams.’
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