Rishi Sunak facing triple by-election nightmare as Boris Johnson's ally latest Tory to resign
Rishi Sunak is facing a triple by-election nightmare as another one of Boris Johnson's allies has stood down today.
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Rishi Sunak is facing a triple by-election nightmare as another one of Boris Johnson's allies has stood down today.
Nigel Adams, the MP for Selby and Ainsty, announced today that he would be standing down with immediate effect.
In a statement, Mr Adams said: "Yesterday, Selby Conservatives selected an excellent new parliamentary candidate.
"I've today informed the chief whip that I will be standing down as a Member of Parliament with immediate effect.
Nigel Adams, the MP for Selby and Ainsty, announced today that he would be standing down with immediate effect.
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"It has been an honour to represent the area where I was raised, educated.
"I want to thank my constituents for their wonderful support since 2010."
It comes as both Nadine Dorries and Boris Johnson stepped down as MPs with immediate effect on Friday.
The Conservative Party will now have to defend Dorries, Johnson and Adam's seats in by-elections.
Suffering any defeats in the by-elections would be another bruising blow for Sunak after the Tories' disastrous local election results in May 2023,
Boris resigned as the MP for Uxbridge & South Ruislip with immediate effect after receiving a letter from the privileges committee about its Partygate probe.
Johnson, 58, released a 1,000-word resignation statement stressing he was "bewildered and appalled" by the privileges committee's drive to oust him from the House of Commons.
The ex-Prime Minister said: "It is very sad to be leaving Parliament - at least for now - but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias.
"I am being forced out by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without approval even of Conservative party members let alone the wider electorate.
"I believe that a dangerous and unsettling precedent is being set."
Boris resigned as the MP for Uxbridge & South Ruislip with immediate effect
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In a swipe against Sunak, Johnson added: "When I left office last year the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That gap has now massively widened.
"Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk.
"Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.
"We need to show how we are making the most of Brexit and we need in the next months to be setting out a pro-growth and pro-investment agenda."