Labour would "address the democratic deficit in the House of Lords", shadow minister David Lammy tells Laura Kuenssberg.

He says that Labour would preserve the honours system because Keir Starmer is a man of "incredible integrity", and would use it to recognise pillars of the community.

He believes the Lords can work because "the principle is founded in good faith and we've had prime ministers who abided by that" but currently the system is not working as at "the minute there's a lot of bad faith".

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy starts his part of the show answering the question ”Why is Labour's lead narrowing?”

“I am not here to talk about polls, poll figures are for the pollsters”, he says and continues with a call for a general election:

“When I speak to voters they talk about mortgages, inflation, cost of living, not being able to get a GP appointment, waiting for cancer care. We are in serious times, our country needs to move forward for a unified purpose.

“In those circumstances of course there should be a general election.”

People can have faith in the honours system as the Appointments Commission carries out vetting, Energy Secretary Grant Shapps says.

He claims that after a series of general election wins, only around one-third of the members of the House of Lords are Conservatives.

"I actually think the system if anything is bit too slow to reflect the realities of people voting in a particular direction," he adds.

When Shapps is asked whether the Conservative Party would allow Johnson to stand again, he says it is a hypothetical question at the moment because he doesn't think Johnson "is in the mindset" to do so.

He adds: “It’s up to the party to make the decision, not the prime minister. There is a process that the party HQ goes through, it would be exactly the same as any other candidate.”

He says it is his understanding that Johnson does not want to stand in a new seat.

Will others quit in the party?

“It's dangerous to predict the future”, Shapps replies.

"What Boris says is his perspective on things," says Shapps.

Speaking about Boris Johnson's resignation letter, he says the former PM is "referring to a particular set of circumstances" but says that the "country really wants to move on" from what happened during the Covid pandemic.

Shapps insists Rishi Sunak did not take any names off Johnson's honour's list - the issue which is thought to have spawned the political fallout - adding that the list which came to the PM was the same list that went to the committee.

Energy secretary Grant Shapps is now live on the show. He says he hasn’t seen the Privileges Committee’s report, but adds that it’s important to respect the institutions of Parliament.

When asked if that’s a witch hunt against Boris Johnson, Shapps says “I don't think that's true”.

Is Boris Johnson a victim?, Kuenssberg asks

Shapps answers by counting the “many qualities of Johnson” and says “Boris himself decided to step down. He would have been welcome to stay”, and continues: “I think people don't miss the drama of it all. I think a calmer period is what the country wants and what it's getting”.

The situation surrounding Boris Johnson is a "toxic cesspool of claim and counter-claim," journalist Isabel Oakeshott tells Laura Kuenssberg, and says it's clear that Boris Johnson and his allies believe they have been systematically misled about the peerages list and believe they were "duped by No10".

She says they believe their names were removed from the list secretly, something which Downing Street denies.

In response former Tory leader Michael Howard says being in government is "full of bumps in the road" and urges Tory MPs to remember there's an election a year away and there's a choice between uniting behind the PM or facing the fact the nation will be led by someone who supported Corbyn.

Meanwhile actor Alan Cumming says the current situation would be tough even for his Eli Gold character and that it seems to finally the end of line for Johnson.

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is live now on BBC One, the BBC News Channel, BBC iPlayer and here on this page.

Before the first of today’s main interviews, we’ll hear from the panel of Isabel Oakeshott, Alan Cumming and Michael Howard on the dramatic end to the week for the Conservative party.

There’s all this and more to come in the next hour.

As ever, there‘ll also be a panel of guests in the studio to help Laura Kuenssberg pick apart this morning’s interviews plus give their thoughts on the Tory resignations and other political issues of the week.

Scottish actor Alan Cumming - whose career spans almost 40 years - is in the studio. He is the producer of a brand new show - A Strange Loop which opens next week in London at the Barbican Theatre. For now, he has swapped the red carpets and stages for our big desk.

Lord Howard was the Conservative leader from 2003 and 2005. During his time at the helm of the Tory party he once sacked Boris Johnson from his shadow cabinet amid revelations about his private life.

Political journalist Isabel Oakeshott sits on the panel today and she is someone who is no stranger to political rows.

Earlier this year she leaked thousands of messages sent by former Health Secretary Matt Hancock at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Image source, PA Media

So, we have three by-elections on the horizon. Although we don't yet know when these will be held, we can have a look at what is up for grabs.

• Boris Johnson leaves behind a fairly small majority of 7,210 at his north-west London seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip
• Nigel Adams held a far bigger majority of 20,137 at his Selby and Ainsty constituency seat in North Yorkshire
• Finally, Nadine Dorries managed to work a huge majority of 24,664 in her Mid Bedfordshire seat at the last general election
• It is worth noting this time last year, the Tories lost by-elections in Tiverton and Honiton to the Lib Dems - who overturned a majority of more than 24,000 - and lost Wakefield to Labour.

Image source, PA Media

"This farce must stop", tweeted, external Labour leader Keir Starmer last night.

"People have had enough of a shambolic Tory government and a weak prime minister no one voted for," he writes.

"Rishi Sunak must finally find a backbone, call an election, and let the public have their say on 13 years of Tory failure."

Yesterday morning, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner accused the ex-PM of being "a coward who doesn’t accept responsibility for his own actions".

She said Johnson's statement was "utterly disgraceful".

"When the public needed him the most he was basically partying, at a time when no one could see their loved ones. That’s unforgivable," she told the Today programme.

Image source, PA Media

Boris Johnson has attracted the headlines for his resignation - but he’s not the only one to announce he’s stepping down as an MP “with immediate effect”.

In fact, first was one of Johnson’s loyal supporters Nadine Dorries.

At 15:30 on Friday afternoon, the former culture secretary tweeted she had informed the chief whip that she will be standing down as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire.

Then, just after 20:00 Mr Johnson issued his 1,000-word resignation letter.

Finally, another one of his staunch allies Nigel Adams announced on Saturday afternoon he too would be quitting his North Yorkshire seat in Selby and Ainsty.

It leaves the Tories with three by-election battles on their hands.

Image source, Reuters

Boris Johnson’s resignation came only hours after he gave some of his closest allies – including Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg – peerages in his honour’s list.

The long-awaited list, approved nine months after Johnson resigned as prime minister, included 38 honours and seven peerages.

Among the big names were Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was knighted, and former Home Secretary Priti Patel, who was made a dame.

Read more here.

As usual, you’ll be able to stream Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg live at 09:00 BST without leaving this page - click the Play button at the top of this page to do so. The show will also be available on BBC One and iPlayer.

We’ll also be bringing you the key quotes, news lines and video clips on this feed.

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

• In 1987, Boris Johnson was fired by The Times for falsifying a quote - but was hired the following year by The Daily Telegraph, as the paper's Brussels correspondent
• In 2004, he was fired as the Conservatives' shadow arts minister for lying about an affair - but was back on the front bench a year later
• In 2016, he pulled out of his first bid to be Conservative leader and prime minister after his close friend Michael Gove launched a rival bid - but he made a surprise comeback as foreign secretary under eventual winner Theresa May
• In 2018, he quit May's cabinet in protest at her Brexit deal, only to return as leader of the party the following year, going on to win a huge majority at a general election

Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter

Hello and welcome to our live coverage after an explosive end to the week which saw Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries stand down as MPs on Friday.

Johnson saw an advance copy of the report into whether he misled Parliament over Partygate and then released a long statement in which - among other things - he claimed he was being driven out of Parliament.

Dorries quit with immediate effect after “something significant” happened to change her mind. It had been expected she would be included in Johnson’s resignation honours list - but wasn’t.

And yesterday afternoon, just as the dust was starting to settle, we had another resignation with Nigel Adams standing down as MP for Selby and Ainsty.

So the Conservative party is now facing three by-elections.

There is plenty to digest here, so stay with us as Heather Sharp, Ece Goksedef, Alex Binley and I bring you all the updates from the programme, which you can watch at the top of this page, as well as on BBC One and iPlayer from 09:00 BST.