BOURNEMOUTH West MP Conor Burns is standing down as a ministerial aide after the resignation of his boss Boris Johnson.

Mr Burns, a Brexit supporter, had been parliamentary private secretary to the foreign secretary, whose departure plunged the government into further turmoil yesterday.

Mr Burns tweeted: “I've enjoyed a fantastic year as PPS to Boris Johnson and six years as PPS to five different ministers.

“I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on.”


Mr Johnson's resignation followed that of Brexit secretary David Davis and came days after Mrs May secured senior ministers' agreement at Chequers for a Brexit plan about which both men had expressed reservations.

Mr Davis was first to go, announcing his exit just before midnight on Sunday.

But there was growing speculation about Mr Johnson's plans on Monday after he failed to attend a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee as well as a summit of Western Balkan nations being held in London.

At 3pm on Monday, a statement was issued by Downing Street to say: "This afternoon, the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. His replacement will be announced shortly. The Prime Minister thanks Boris for his work."

Staunch Brexiteer Dominic Raab was named as Mr Davis's replacement as Secretary of State for Leaving the EU.

Chris Green, the parliamentary private secretary to the transport secretary Chris Grayling, also resigned.