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Boris Johnson younger brother Jo Johnson suggested his brother is failing the national interest and has quit as a government minister and indicated he will stand down as an MP.

The Orpington MP said he had been "torn between family loyalty and the national interest" but that it was "time for others " to take on his role.

The Universities and Science minister had previously quit the government when Theresa May as PM over her handling of Brexit.

Remainer Jo Johnson added that it had been an "honour" to serve his constituents since 2009.

The departure is a severe blow to Boris Johnson at a time when he’s alienated the moderate wing of his party by expelling 21 MPs on Tuesday because they voted against the government.

In his six weeks since becoming PM, Boris Johnson has lost every Parliamentary vote he has held, expelled 21 members of his own party, and now lost his brothers support.

Mr Johnson supports a second referendum on Brexit, so his decision to serve in his brother’s Hard Brexit government raised eyebrows.

Mr Johnson's tweet read: “In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest,” Jo Johnson said on Twitter. “It’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & Minister. #overandout.”

(Image: Peter Summers)

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister would like to thank Jo Johnson for his service.

"He has been a brilliant, talented minister and a fantastic MP. The PM, as both a politician and brother, understands this will not have been an easy matter for Jo.

"The constituents of Orpington could not have asked for a better representative."

It is understood that Jo Johnson will stand down as an MP at the next election.

Labour were quick to seize on Jo's departure with Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey saying at the despatch box "even the Prime Minister's brother has walked out of office".

His departure will be seized upon by opponents as the PM gears up for an election campaign with overtones of the painful rift between Labour's two Miliband brothers.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom paid tribute to Jo Johnson, who was a junior minister in her department.

She tweeted: "It has been a pleasure to work with @JoJohnsonUK, both in Parliament for nine years and most recently as a Minister at BEIS; his expertise and knowledge of the area were a huge asset to the department.

"I wish him all the best."

The 47-year-old MP for Orpington is the youngest of the four Johnson siblings and shows the radical Brexit split in his family.

Jo Johnson is a pro-EU MP who backed a second referendum while sister Rachel stood for anti-Brexit party Change UK.

But Boris, the eldest of the four, backed Brexit in 2016 after chewing over both options and writing a column backing each.

It is the second time Jo Johnson has quit the government in protest at the hardline Brexit plan in less than a year.

He resigned from Theresa May's regime in November, accusing her of offering MPs a choice between “vassalage and chaos”.

Backing a second referendum, he said: "It would be an absolute travesty if we don’t go back to the people and ask if they want to exit the EU on this extraordinarily hopeless basis.”

Jo was supported by Rachel and brother Leo, who said he had demonstrated "full and accurate facts" in a swipe at Boris.

(Image: Leon Neal)

"Brexit has divided the country. It has divided political parties. And it has divided families too," Jo wrote in his resignation letter.

But he then bizarrely rejoined the government just eight months later when his big brother Boris entered 10 Downing Street.

Jo Johnson took back his old job as Universities and Science Minister, this time attending Cabinet, and kept his opinions quiet.

Like his big brother, Jo Johnson attended Eton College under the watchful eye of hyper-competitive father Stanley Johnson.

Stanley - an environmental campaigner - backed Remain in 2016 but later said "the time has come to bail out".

The 79-year-old patriarch encouraged his children to battle each other intellectually. They spoke Greek at home and all four went to Oxford.

Jo later studied in Brussels before joining Deutsche Bank as an investment banker and the Financial Times as a journalist.

Unlike his brother - who was sacked from the Times for lying - he stayed at his first big paper rising to become Paris correspondent, South Asia bureau chief and an associate editor running the influential Lex column.

He swept into politics as an MP at the 2010 election and swiftly became the head of David Cameron's No10 policy unit.

He rose through the ranks as a Cabinet Office, Universities and Transport Minister before the sudden end to his career today.