Telford MP Lucy Allan 'no longer supports PM' as cracks appear between Shropshire Tories

Telford MP Lucy Allan, who until this week had been a loyal supporter of Mr Johnson, said she had now lost confidence in him and it was time for him to go.

Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams has also resigned from his position as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor. Mr Williams said he could no longer give the PM the benefit of the doubt.

Her comments come hours after she appeared to express disapproval of Michelle Donelan's appointment as Education Secretary.

She joins Ludlow MP, who last month voted against Mr Johnson in last month's vote of confidence.

However, Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski and Mark Pritchard, MP for the Wrekin said they still supported the PM.

Ms Allan said she could no longer support Mr Johnson after hearing the PM was aware of sexual misconduct allegation against Chris Pincher when he promoted him.

She said: "My constituents gave the PM an overwhelming mandate at the General Election in 2019, which I fully respected, and for this reason the PM retained my support.

"However, the appointment of Chris Pincher to the position of Deputy Chief Whip, when it was known that a complaint of sexual misconduct against him had been upheld, was unacceptable.

"The Deputy Chief Whip is responsible both for party discipline and pastoral support for MPs. The Whips have considerable power over MPs and to place someone with a record of sexual misconduct in that sensitive role gave the impression that such behaviour would be tolerated."

Ms Allan said concerns about Mr Pincher’s behaviour were well-known in parliament, and it demonstrated a serious lack of judgement to appoint him to that post.

"The response to the most recent allegations about Mr Pincher’s behaviour was extraordinary and required good ministers to defend the indefensible.

"I am no longer able to support the PM."

Ms Allan's comments come hours after she appeared to criticise the appointment of Michele Donelan as Education Secretary.

When the appointment was made on Twitter, she posted the one-word reply "Seriously".

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne, who voted against the Prime Minister in last month's vote of confidence, said he thought it was unlikely MPs would be given another chance to vote on his future.

"I think it is important to restore trust and integrity in the competence of the Government," he said.

However, Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, said he continued to have confidence in the Prime Minister. He praised the quick reshuffle and appointment of Nadhim Zahawi as Education Secretary.

"I am glad new ministers are now in place and that there has been minimal disruption to the functioning of the Government," he said.

"I think the new Chancellor will be more in tune with the PM's tax-cutting instincts."

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, said he still continued to support the Prime Minister.

"Two ministers in the Cabinet have resigned, 26 have stayed," he said.

"For him to have been able to secure Nadhim Zahawi to become his chancellor and to keep the rest of the cabinet on board shows a certain degree of political nous.

"The resignation of the Chancellor and the Health Secretary could have triggered an avalanche against the PM but it hasn't, and in the main the party is solidly behind him.

"As long as people like Ben Wallace, Nadhim Zahawi, Steve Barclay, Liz Truss and others publicly support the Prime Minister and continue to want to serve in his government, the Prime Minister has a chance to carry on."

Mr Kawczynski praised the Mr Zahawi's appointment, saying it would pave the way for a change of direction in economic policy.

"He's going to potentially take some of the radical measures that are needed, which the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer was not prepared to do," he said. "We could end up seeing, as a result of this, quite significant different economic policies for the economy which I support."

Mr Kawczynski said he would be concerned at the prospect of a change in the rules of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers to allow a second vote of confidence in the party's leader.

"That's setting a very dangerous precedent because all future Conservative Prime Ministers will have a guillotine hanging over their heads all the time. That is no practical way of running a government,"

Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire Helen Morgan called for the Prime Minister's resignation.

"He is incompetent, he is a liar and his resignation has been overdue since before I was elected back in December," she said.

Mrs Morgan welcomed the resignations of Mr Sunak and Mr Javid, but said they were still culpable for their record in government.

"The Prime Minister must follow these ministers out of the door," she said.

Mr Williams said he was proud to have served the Government, and had been prepared to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt for one last time.

“I believed it was right that we drew a line under previous events and focus on delivering good policies,” he said.

“It has now become apparent, over recent days, that this is becoming impossible.”