Senior Brexiteer Steve Baker has stepped down as chair of the influential European Research Group of Tory MPs.
The former junior
Brexit minister indicated he was content with Boris Johnson’s vision for leaving the
European Union, and would now “give way to others on this issue”.
In his resignation letter, he said the prime minister “has the policy, the mandate and the majority he needs to deliver an exit from the EU worth having”.
The European Research Group (ERG) became notorious for being a thorn in Theresa May’s side, voting down her Brexit withdrawal agreement three times and effectively forcing her out of power.I have today resigned as Chair of the European Research Group (ERG) of Conservative MPs. The
UK has now left the EU and the PM has the policy, the mandate and the majority necessary to make a success of it.More via @TheCriticMaghttps://t.co/ijFpDPFfXx— Steve Baker MP (@SteveBakerHW) February 25, 2020In July, Baker rejected a ministerial
Job under new prime minister Johnson, saying he could not “repeat [the] experience of powerlessness” he had felt.
Last year, Baker introduced himself on Sky News as “Brexit hardman Steve Baker”. ERG members were also known as the “Spartans” by some.
In the sign-off to his resignation letter, the MP for Wycombe writes: “While historians will one day judge, I suppose we have wielded more power from the back benches than any others in the long history of our party and county. Thank god we have succeeded.”Related... Tory 'Spartan' Steve Baker Drops Call For Election Deal With Nigel Farage's Brexit Party Hardline Tory Eurosceptics Could Abstain On Johnson Brexit Deal Brexiteer Steve Baker Rejects Ministerial Job Offer From Boris Johnson