More Nottinghamshire MPs have called on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to consider his position. Gedling Conservative MP Tom Randall withdrew his support as Mr Johnson's leadership crumbles, while former minister and Newark MP Robert Jenrick also called on the PM to go.
Calls for the Prime Minister to resign have stepped up after two of his Cabinet members and several other junior ministers stood down. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid both resigned within minutes of each other last night (Tuesday, July 5) amid the latest Conservative Party scandal.
The Prime Minister admitted appointing Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip was a mistake after it was claimed he knew about allegations of sexual misconduct before he was given the role. The resignations of the two senior cabinet ministers adds to pressure on Mr Johnson.
As part of Sunak's bombshell resignation yesterday, he said: "The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously... where I have disagreed with you privately, I have supported you publicly."
Mr Randall and Mr Jenrick's comments come after Ashfield MP Lee Anderson became the first Red Wall member of parliament to withdraw his support today. Mr Randall told Nottinghamshire Live: "I think yesterday was a very bad day and today is going to be a very long day. I've always thought Lee [Anderson] talks a lot of sense.
"At the moment I think things are happening and these things need to play out. At the moment there is not a lot I can say.
"It is not a great day. We will push through this and get on with things." Asked whether the PM's position was still tenable he replied: "No".
In a statement posted on his official Facebook page, Mr Jenrick said: "I have come to the conclusion that the country would be best served by new leadership. This is not a decision that I have arrived at lightly. I served the Prime Minister, like his two predecessors, loyally and with complete commitment and there are a number of achievements of this Government to which I am proud to have contributed.
"I have always wanted the Prime Minister to succeed and I gave him every opportunity to do so. However, it has become painfully clear that we are failing to provide the coherence, grip and direction that the country needs and deserves in these challenging times. I have found it difficult to support the ever rising tax burden and the Government’s failure to deliver essential reforms to our economy and public services, not least the abdication of responsibility to tackle the housing crisis for the benefit of future generations.
"More fundamentally there has been a significant and I fear irretrievable loss of trust with the public, confirmed by the mishandling of serious allegations in recent days. If we continue along our present path we risk doing lasting damage to the reputation of the Conservative Party for competence and good government and, more importantly, to the standing of politics generally.
"I can no longer, in all good conscience, support this. I believe this is a view broadly shared by my constituents and I would be doing them a disservice as their Member of Parliament if I didn’t make my view known at this moment. I have written to Sir Graham Brady to express this decision."
The MPs' comments came after one of the Prime Minister's usual staunch defenders Lee Anderson withdrew his support for the PM. In a message posted to his Facebook page, the MP for Ashfield wrote: "I have remained loyal to the Prime Minister since being elected in 2019. However, my position has changed over the past few days since the incident which led to the Deputy Chief Whip losing the party whip.
"It has come to light that the PM was made aware of a complaint in the past in relation to Mr Pinchers inappropriate behaviour but then went on to promote Mr Pincher to Deputy Chief Whip which is a position of immense power within Government and a role that should look after the interests of Government and the welfare of MPs. It is quite obvious this was not a good appointment and to make matters worse number 10 did not act quick enough in removing the whip after Mr Pincher resigned."
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