Hexham MP joins conservative voices calling for Boris Johnson to resign as Prime Minister

A further four local Conservative MPs have turned on the Prime Minister, as confidence in Boris Johnson continues to dwindle.

Hexham MP Guy Opperman said on Boris Johnson "recent events have shown clearly that the Government simply cannot function with you in charge".

The pensions Minister is the latest in a series of North East politicians to call on the Prime Minister to step down.

Darlington's MP resigned on the evening of Wednesday 6 July, leaving his post as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for International Trade.

In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Gibson criticised Johnson for not upholding high standards in public life and the party's failure to include trans people in a ban on conversion therapy.

He described marching for London Pride as a "humiliating experience" because of the government's policies.

"As a gay MP, [marching for London Pride] should have been a liberating, enjoyable experience," he said.

"Instead due to the damage our party has inflicted on itself over the failure to include trans people in the ban on conversion therapy, it was a humiliating experience and signalled to me the immense damage that has been so needlessly inflicted after years of hard work by many to rebuild the damage of Section 28.

He added: "It is of the upmost importance that the Office of Prime Minister represents all the high standards required of public life, which I do not believe it presently does."

Mr Gibson joins an ever-growing list of MPs to turn on the Prime Minister as calls for his resignation intensify.

That list also includes the Redcar MP Jacob Young - elected to his seat in 2019 - the first Tory to ever represent the constituency.

He has stepped down from his position as Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 

In his letter to the Prime Minister he thanked him for his support of the people of Teesside, but said he was left with "no choice but to step down" after accusing Boris Johnson of "refusing to listen to those most loyal to you" to allow the country to move forward.

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith was not in government but has called for the Johnson to resign.

Speaking to ITV's Peston programme, Smith said Boris Johnson's time in Downing Street is up.

"The British Constitution the constitution which he said he was fighting for when he did Brexit, is now in tatters, as he has lost the confidence of his party."

Richmond MP Rishi Sunak quit as Chancellor of the Exchequer on Tuesday 5 July, triggering the flurry of resignations alongside Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

During Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Johnson vowed to carry on.