Rishi Sunak faces an unpopular third by-election after another MP ally of Boris Johnson abruptly quit the seat on Saturday.
Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Anstey, said he had told his party he would step down “with immediate effect” – sparking a race to replace him.
It came less than 24 hours after the prime minister learned he would face two tough rounds in Mr Johnson’s Uxbridge and West Risslip constituency and Nadine Dorries in Central Bedfordshire, which also withdrew on Friday. election.
“Yesterday the Selby Conservatives elected an excellent candidate for new Parliament. I have informed the Chief Whip today that I will be resigning as MP with immediate effect. It has been a privilege to represent the area where I grew up and was educated, ’” Mr Adams said in a statement posted on Twitter.
The outgoing MP has represented the West Yorkshire seat since 2010 and has a large majority of more than 20,000 votes on paper.
But with the Conservatives trailing by as much as 20 percentage points in the polls and with the uncertainty of a by-election, the opposition is likely to see the seat as an opportunity to strike at the struggling government.
While Mr Adams did not link his departure to Mr Johnson’s decision to quit parliament, he is seen as a close ally of the former prime minister – having served as his traveling secretary but not in office.
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