Sussex MPs React To Boris Johnson Resignation

MPs in Sussex have been reacting on social media to the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, took to the opportunity at PMs Qs in parliament yesterday (July 6) to ask the question on everybody's lips:

My question from PMQs earlier today. Not something I relish but the Prime Minister needs to realise the game is up pic.twitter.com/LyXlTXmDoF

— Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 (@timloughton) July 6, 2022

However, this morning just after 9am, it was announced that he had indeed agreed to resign, so the answer to Mr Laughton's question must be: When your new chancellor tells you to "go now".

Green MP Caroline Lucas for Brighton Pavillion was one of the first to react on Twitter to the resignation:

And breathe...

But Johnson was never sole cause of rot at Westminster. Nor the ministers making squalid decisions based on political calculation not moral principle

Our democracy faces deeper crisis - we need a new politics based on fair votes & redistribution of wealth & power https://t.co/JewFPQURY4

— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) July 7, 2022

She followed her initial tweet saying:

It took 50 resignations. Hard to believe it until he's at that lectern outside No.10, spells it out, peels off the grotesque wall paper & leaves. There's now a huge & serious job to mend the things he's broken & our systems that allowed this wrecking, rogue PM to stay so long

— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) July 7, 2022

And then:

Boris Johnson is being forced to resign for being unfit for office as a reckless, untrustworthy, lying, law-breaking rogue Prime Minister with no regard for rule of law or our democratic systems. He must not be allowed to stay on for 3 months after resigning and must go now

— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) July 7, 2022

The MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Nick Gibb, tweeted:

As well as resigning as Party leader the PM must resign his office. After losing so many ministers, he has lost the trust and authority required to continue. We need an acting PM who is not a candidate for leader to stabilise the government while a new leader is elected.

— Nick Gibb (@NickGibbUK) July 7, 2022

Hove MP, Peter Kyle, tweeted:

It’s not a change of Tory we need, it’s a change of government.@UKLabour with @Keir_Starmer’s leadership is the fresh start we need. https://t.co/1CG8RsZeuD

— Peter Kyle MP (@peterkyle) July 7, 2022

MP for Bexhill and Battle and Chair of the Transport Select Committee Huw Merriman, made it clear that he could not support the PM, in a statement he made yesterday:

"When mistakes are made, I expect those who make them to work much harder and to demonstrate lessons have been learnt and performance will be improved.

"Events of the past few days, however, have demonstrated a further failure on the part of the Prime Minister, in terms of judgment, competency and integrity. This tells me that lessons have not been learnt.  

"We cannot continue like this. The current situation is causing inertia in Government and if we allow standards expected of those in public service to fall, we will lose the trust of the public and we will never attract high calibre, trustworthy and hard-working individuals into politics or public service. 

"It is for these reasons that I now believe the Prime Minister’s position is untenable and I can no longer support his continued leadership. I have already put a letter in to the Chairman of the 1992 Committee and also requested that the rules are changed in order to bring forward a leadership contest. I will not support the current Prime Minister in such a contest. I hope he will reflect and stand down before this occurs.”

More to follow