Amber Rudd has resigned from the cabinet and quit the Conservative party, she said in a statement.
The Hastings and Rye MP quit her post as work and pensions secretary and said she was relinquishing the Tory whip (which means leaving the party) after the Prime Minister sacked 21 rebels this week.
Boris Johnson expelled (“removed the whip”) from two former chancellors and Winston Churchill’s grandson after they voted to give Opposition MPs control of the order paper and start the process of blocking a no-deal Brexit.
Rudd tweeted: “I have resigned from Cabinet and surrendered the Conservative Whip.
“I cannot stand by as good, loyal moderate Conservatives are expelled.
“I have spoken to the PM and my Association Chairman to explain.
“I remain committed to the One Nation values that drew me into politics.”I have resigned from Cabinet and surrendered the Conservative Whip.I cannot stand by as good, loyal moderate Conservatives are expelled. I have spoken to the PM and my Association Chairman to explain.I remain committed to the One Nation values that drew me into politics. pic.twitter.com/kYmZHbLMES— Amber Rudd MP (@AmberRuddHR) September 7, 2019Responding to Rudd’s resignation,
Labour MP Dawn Butler wrote: This is to be admired. We all know Boris is making no effort to negotiate But it also means that since 2010 there has been 8 ministers for women & equalities.
“I’m going to have face another minister at the dispatch box. Boris and the conservatives just don’t care about women”.
Leader of The Independent Group for Change, Anna Soubry, tweeted Rudd’s resignation letter alongside the words: “At last. #respect.”
Former Conservative MP and minister Nick Boles – who quit the party in April after his soft
Brexit plan failed – tweeted: “Everyone has a point beyond which they cannot be pushed.
“Amber Rudd has reached hers. How much more of the party he inherited will Johnson destroy before he has second thoughts or is stopped by his Cabinet colleagues?”Everyone has a point beyond which they cannot be pushed. @AmberRuddHR has reached hers. How much more of the party he inherited will Johnson destroy before he has second thoughts or is stopped by his Cabinet colleagues?— Nick Boles MP (@NickBoles) September 7, 2019This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost
UK on
Twitter here, and on
Facebook here.