Who has quit Theresa May's government over Brexit so far?

Who has quit Theresa May's government over Brexit so far?

By Aubrey Allegretti and Alan McGuinness, political reporters

As a Remain campaigner, the prime minister rose to office with a promise to unite the country in the aftermath of the EU referendum.

But she has suffered a wave of resignations as senior MPs ditched their support for her.

Sky News has rounded up all those who have resigned over Brexit so far:

Chris Heaton-Harris, Brexit minister

Having sought one delay to Brexit when it became clear she would not get her withdrawal agreement through parliament before the end of March, Theresa May announced she would be seeking a further extension to the Article 50 process.


This prompted the departure of Mr Heaton-Harris, who said in his resignation letter: "I truly believe we should have honoured the result of the 2016 referendum and left on that date.

"Indeed every time we seek an extension to this process we diminish faith in our political system and the good people, from all political parties, who serve within it.

"I simply cannot support any further extension to Article 50 and this obviously means I cannot stay in government."

Nigel Adams, Wales minister

Along with seeking another delay to Brexit, the PM's decision to offer to sit down with Jeremy Corbyn and agree a joint plan to break the Brexit impasse provoked fury among sections of her party.

And Mr Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, left his government role as a result.

"It now seems that you and your cabinet have decided that a deal - cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first - is better than no deal," he wrote in his resignation letter.

"I profoundly disagree with this approach and I have therefore decided that I must reluctantly tender my resignation."

Richard Harrington, business minister

The MP for Watford quit his ministerial role and hit out at the government's approach to Brexit, accusing Downing Street of "playing roulette" with people's lives.

He left in order to vote in favour of a bid to allow MPs to hold indicative votes on Brexit alternatives.

Alistair Burt, Middle East minister

The Foreign Office minister also quit in order to back the push for indicative votes.

Steve Brine, health minister

The MP for Winchester, like Mr Harrington and Mr Burt, left over indicative votes.

Sarah Newton, work and pensions minister

The minister quit in order to vote in favour of an amended government motion which called for a no-deal Brexit to be ruled out in all circumstances, not just at the end of March.

Paul Masterton, parliamentary private secretary at Home Office

The Scottish Conservative MP for East Renfrewshire left his role for the same reason as Ms Newton.

George Eustice, agriculture minister

Mr Eustice resigned over Theresa May's decision to allow a vote on delaying Brexit.

In his resignation letter, the MP for Camborne and Redruth said he feared Brussels would end up "dictating the terms of any extension", which would be a "final humiliation".

Alberto Costa, parliamentary private secretary at Scotland Office

The MP for South Leicestershire was forced to resign as a junior government aide for tabling an amendment in parliament to protect EU citizens if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal.

Eddie Hughes, parliamentary private secretary at Brexit department

The MP for Walsall North left his role because of his opposition to the prime minister's Brexit deal.

Craig Tracey, parliamentary private secretary at Department for International Development

The MP for North Warwickshire quit to vote against Theresa May's Brexit deal in the first meaningful vote.

Gareth Johnson, government whip

An MP in charge of getting colleagues to vote for the PM's Brexit deal quit himself to vote against it on the eve of the poll.

Gareth Johnson stood down from the whips' office calling the agreement "detrimental to the nation's interests".

Sam Gyimah, universities and science minister

The universities minister resigned in protest over Mrs May's Brexit deal while she was in Argentina at the G20 summit.

Sam Gyimah, who campaigned for Remain but represents a Leave constituency, is campaigning for another referendum.

Suella Braverman, junior Brexit secretary

A wave of ministerial resignations after a draft deal was reached with Brussels ended with the loss of Brexit minister Suella Braverman.

The Fareham MP quit saying the Northern Ireland backstop "is not Brexit" and it threatens to "break up our precious union", which she said "could have been avoided".

Esther McVey, work and pensions secretary

Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey became the second cabinet minister to quit that day, calling the draft Brexit agreement "a risk I cannot be party to".

One of the most vocal opponents of the deal, Ms McVey reportedly had a massive "bust-up" with Mrs May during the five-hour meeting in which the cabinet agreed to the draft text.

Dominic Raab, Brexit secretary

Dominic Raab became the first secretary of state to resign after the draft deal was reached with Brussels, saying he could not in "good conscience" support it.

"I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election," the outgoing Brexit secretary wrote in a letter to Mrs May.

Shailesh Vara, Northern Ireland minister

Earlier that morning, the first minister left the government over the draft deal.

Shailesh Vara quit the Northern Ireland office saying the agreement "left the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation".

Jo Johnson, transport minister

Proving that Brexit can divide families just as much as the rest of politics, Jo Johnson, brother of Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson, quit as a transport minister.

He warned the UK was "barrelling towards an incoherent" divorce and called for another referendum on the final terms of Brexit.

Guto Bebb, defence minister

Guto Bebb resigned as a defence minister in a surprise move ahead of a vote in the House of Commons.

He quit the government to vote against an amendment tabled by Leave-backer Jacob Rees-Mogg, complaining that "the Brexit that is being delivered today could not be further from what was promised".

Boris Johnson, foreign secretary

One of the biggest figures of the Brexit campaign, Boris Johnson quit as foreign secretary over the Chequers proposal.

A closely watched figure in Westminster because of rumours of a leadership challenge, the former mayor of London said the Brexit dream was "dying" under Mrs May.

Steve Baker, Brexit minister

Brexit minister Steve Baker quit just after the adoption of the Chequers proposals - Mrs May's plan for a future relationship with the EU.

"I cannot support this policy with the sincerity and resolve which will be necessary," he wrote.

David Davis, Brexit secretary

Earlier in the day, the minister who led the UK's Brexit strategy from the beginning stood down over Chequers.

David Davis said he feared the UK's "negotiating approach" would only result in "further demands for concessions" from the EU.

Other resignations

More senior Conservatives have quit as aides to ministers over Brexit.

Those who resigned as parliamentary private secretaries to speak out about the progress of Britain leaving the EU are: Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Ranil Jayawardena, Will Quince, Scott Mann, Robert Courts, Andrea Jenkyns, Chris Green and Conor Burns.

Several vice-chairs of the Conservative Party have also stood down over Brexit, including Ben Bradley, Maria Caulfield and Rehman Chishti.