A Kent MP has blamed Boris Johnson and his chief aide for the resignation of Amber Rudd, who has quit her cabinet job and left the Conservative party.

North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale says the Prime Minister and special adviser Dominic Cummings were “reaping the inevitable whirlwind” of the way they were leading the Tories.

Sir Roger has himself indicated that he would not rule out standing as an independent candidate and has called for Mr Cummings to be sacked.

Reacting to Amber Rudd’s dramatic resignation, he tweeted that he had huge respect for her, describing her as a good and courteous MP.

Meanwhile, Ashford MP Damian Green says her decision was “desperately sad”.

He had earlier criticised the Prime Minister over the expulsion of 21 MPs who rebelled over a no-deal Brexit, saying it amounted to a purge of people who did not support the direction the party was going in.

Mrs Rudd said one of the reasons for her resignation was the treatment of those parliamentarians who had defied the government. They include the Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark.

She said: “I cannot stand by as good, loyal moderate Conservatives are expelled. I remain committed to the One Nation values that drew me into politics.”

Meanwhile, the Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson defended the Prime Minister but said he too did not agree with the expulsion of of the 21 MPs.

Speaking on the latest edition of KMTV's Paul on Politics show, he said: “It is a total nightmare. Is he doing a good job? I think he's doing a good job on some things but I do not agree with him on expelling MPs who rebelled.”

The resignation of Amber Rudd will pile the pressure on Boris Johnson as another challenging week looms and he tries again to trigger a general election.

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