The vice chair of the UK Conservative party resigned during a live television interview, joining a growing list of departures from prime minister Boris Johnson’s government.
Bim Afolami said on Tuesday that allegations about the party’s former deputy chief whip and “other things that have happened in recent weeks” were “very sad”.
“I just don’t think the prime minister, any longer, has not just my support, but he doesn’t have, I think, the support of the party or indeed the country any more, and for that reason I think he should step down,” Afolami said during a live interview on TalkTV’s The News Desk.
Asked whether he was resigning, Afolami said: “I think you have to resign. You have to resign because I can’t serve under the prime minister.”
The Conservative party’s co-chair, Oliver Dowden, resigned late last month following disastrous results for the party in recent by-elections. Dowden wrote in a letter to Johnson at the time that “our supporters are distressed and disappointed by recent events, and I share their feelings”.
Afolami said he thought the government “has done some great things” and that Johnson has a “very strong legacy in a huge range of areas”, but the UK leader had lost the trust of the people.
“I think it has become clear, particularly after losing the support of two of his closest cabinet colleagues, the time has come for him to stand down.”
