Education minister Will Quince has resigned from Boris Johnson’s government, having been sent out to defend the prime minister on TV over the Chris Pincher scandal.
Quince said he had “no choice” but to resign after it turned out he had been given “inaccurate” information.
In interviews on Monday, the Colchester MP said he had been given a “categorical assurance” that Johnson was not aware of any “specific” allegations against Pincher.
This turned out not to be true, with Downing Street admitting on Tuesday the PM had been briefed on an investigation into the former deputy chief whip’s behaviour.
“With great sadness and regret, I have this morning tendered my resignation to the prime minister after I accepted and repeated assurances on Monday to the media which have now been found to be inaccurate,” he tweeted on Tuesday morning.
Nadhim Zahawi, the newly appointed chancellor who had been education secretary less than 24 hours ago, learned of the resignation during a live interview on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.
“I’m sorry to see Will Quince go, he was my children and families minister and a great minister. All I would say to colleagues is people don’t vote for divided teams, we have to come together and deliver,” he said.
Johnson is clinging onto power by a thread, after Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid both dramatically resigned from government on Tuesday evening.