Devon MP Selaine Saxby quits role over 'erosion of trust'

Selaine Saxby has resigned from her position in the government

A Devon MP has stepped down from her government position because of "honesty and integrity" as pressure continues to build on Boris Johnson.

Selaine Saxby, MP for North Devon, was a Parliamentary Private Secretary.

In a letter to the PM she said she tried "to retain loyalty" but "this is no longer compatible with the values I hold dear".

A second Devon MP has written to constituents saying he no longer has confidence in Mr Johnson.

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon said "in order to restore trust in the highest office in the land, the prime minister must do the decent thing and resign".

A number of ministers have quit government or party positions, with backbenchers also withdrawing their support.

'Really need people to trust us'

Ms Saxby, who was elected in 2019, said her decision to step down as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Treasury had been "preying on my mind for some weeks".

She told BBC Radio Devon: "As I said in my letter, inaction is indeed action and by saying nothing that was no longer sustainable.

"I needed to explain to the people of north Devon because I have had so much correspondence on this matter."

She refused to say how she voted in the vote of confidence against Mr Johnson last month, which he survived.

She said: "It's very much about honesty and integrity for me. And I feel that the situation last week and the unfolding manner in which other colleagues were treated and sent out to the media to defend something that they were doing in all good faith, and that was not the case, I feel that's not the first time that has happened.

"The repetitive nature of that undermined trust in politics at a time when we really need people to trust us as politicians.

"It's that erosion of trust and the constant stories that has led me to this position today."