A second Welsh MP has quit the government, telling the Prime Minister that it is impossible to rebuild trust in his leadership. MP for Montgomeryshire Craig Williams said he is resigning as parliamentary private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr Williams' resignation follows Virginia Crosbie's resignation on Tuesday and comes as the Prime Minister faces a wave of resignations. See live updates on that here.
A third Welsh MP has also told the Prime Minister to step down. Brecon and Radnorshire's Fay Jones said that the Prime Minister needed to resign because the situation had become "intolerable". She added that she will resign as parliamentary private secretary to Mark Spencer, the leader of the House of Commons, if Boris Johnson is still Prime Minister on Thursday.
Read more: Follow all the live updates as Boris Johnson faces rash of resignations
In a letter posted to Twitter, Mr Williams said: "After the recent vote of confidence, I had given my support to you, with one last benefit of the doubt. I believed it was right that we draw a line under previous events and focus on rebuilding trust with the public and focusing on delivering good policies.
"It has now become apparent over recent days, that this is becoming impossible. "It is therefore with deep regret that I resign from your Government."
It comes as 27 ministers have resigned their positions leaving Boris Johnson's position as Prime Minister in grave doubt. Just after 2.30pm on Wednesday, six MPs quit in one go as support for the PM haemorrhaged.
Kemi Badenoch, Julia Lopez, Lee Rowley, Neil O'Brien and Alex Burghart said in a joint letter to Boris Johnson that "the Government cannot function" as they called for Boris Johnson to step down. You can see the full list of minister who have resigned here.
The mass resignation of ministers, along with a string of parliamentary aides, came after Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid quit their Cabinet posts on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ms Jones became the latest MP to raise concerns saying: "The prime minister needs to resign. It’s intolerable for the country to endure this. I have business questions tomorrow and I have written to the leader of the house asking him to remove the PM."
Her comments came after the Tory Party's Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said that support among his party's MPs was looking "increasingly tenuous"
Ms Jones is the second MP to publicly call for Mr Johnson to resign after Ynys Mon MP Virginia Crosbie, a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Wales Office, said the prime minister's position had become "untenable".
Boris Johnson has been hit by a rash of resignations with letters coming thick and fast since Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid quit on Tuesday evening. As of Prime Minister's Questions at noon on Wednesday, Johnson had seen two cabinet ministers and five other ministers resign over his handling of the Chris Pincher allegations.
However, even as Johnson was facing off against Keir Starmer over the dispatch box, another MP quit their Government post. It means there have been 15 ministerial resignations (as of 2.45pm) in less than 24 hours, as well as nine private parliamentary secretaries and two trade envoys also going.
At Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Johnson was left chuntering, floundering and repeating himself as he faced a merciless ridiculing by Labour leader Keir Starmer who told him the sinking ship was leaving the rat. See the best putdowns here.
Mr Johnson said the "colossal mandate" he had been handed by voters in 2019 means he should keep going despite the "difficult circumstances" he faces.
But a resignation statement by Mr Javid in the House laid bare the scale of the problems facing the Prime Minister - and he challenged other Cabinet ministers to consider their positions.
The Prime Minister stayed in the Commons chamber as former health secretary Mr Javid set out the reasons for his resignation, saying Mr Johnson was not going to change and "enough is enough".
Mr Javid said: "Treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months. I will never risk losing my integrity."
He said "the problem starts at the top and I believe that is not going to change".
In a message to Cabinet ministers who decided not to quit, he said: "Not doing something is an active decision. I'm deeply concerned about how the next generation will see the Conservative Party on our current course. It is incumbent on all of us to set high standards for ourselves and to take action when they are not met by others."
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