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South Pembrokeshire MP Simon Hart quits PM Boris Johnson's cabinet

Simon Hart, MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
Simon Hart, MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire

WELSH Secretary Simon Hart MP became the latest cabinet member to resign from Boris Johnson's government on Wednesday evening.

The MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire announced at 10.30pm that he had handed in his letter of resignation to the Chief Whip.

The now former Secretary of State for Wales was among a number of senior ministers who had earlier urged Mr Johnson to step down as Prime Minister.

Mr Hart, who had been a part of Boris Johnson's cabinet since 2019, had previously said that Mr Johnson's departure should not require ministerial resignations.

Hart's resignation brought the number of cabinet members who had resigned up to three - following Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

In his resignation letter to Boris Johnson, Hart wrote: "I had desperately hoped that I could avoid writing this letter, but alas there seems no other option left but to step down from my role as secretary of state for Wales.

"You will be remembered as a Prime Minister with energy, vision, determination and humour.

"There was never a dull moment as Minister in your Government, and I wil be forever grateful to have been given the chance to be part of it.

"I have never been a massive fan of Ministerial resignations being the best means of forcing change.

"Colleagues have done their upmost [sic] in private and public to help you turn the ship around, but it is with sadness that I feel we have passed the point where this is possible".

Earlier in the day, during Wednesday's Welsh Questions, Mr Hart was asked by Plaid Cymru MP, Liz Saville Roberts: "When will he be going?"

Mr Hart insisted it was "business as usual in the Wales Office" and urged her to "come and join us in the endeavour to improve the lives of people in Wales, rather than using rather cheap political opportunities to do the opposite".

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Mr Hart's predecessor as Secretary for State for Wales, and Preseli Pembrokeshire MP, Stephen Crabb has also called for Mr Johnson to resign "for the good of the country".

He told the BBC that trust in the UK government "had been draining away month after month" as controversies piled up.

He said recent events shone a spotlight on questions "about honesty that have hung over the prime minister all year".

Mr Crabb confirmed that he voted against Mr Johnson in the confidence vote last month.

By midnight on Wednesday, 43 ministers and aides had resigned from Johnson's government.

But Mr Johnson remained defiant, insisting he has a "colossal mandate to keep going" from voters.

Western Telegraph: Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Western Telegraph: Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Prime Minister Boris Johnson