Chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid resign within minutes of each other amid row over prime minister Boris Johnson's handling of Chris Pincher's conduct

It comes after Boris Johnson has been forced into an apology over his handling of the Chris Pincher row after it emerged he had forgotten about being told of previous allegations of the MP’s ‘inappropriate’ conduct.

Now Rishi Sunak has said he is resigning as chancellor, writing on Twitter: ‘I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.’

It came within minutes of Sajid Javid announcing that he is resigning as health secretary.

The Tory MP for Bromsgrove said that following last month’s vote of confidence ‘it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership – and you have therefore lost my confidence too.’

The Prime Minister survived a confidence vote on June 6, but 41 per cent of his own MPs tried to remove him.

Boris Johnson admitted ‘it was a mistake’ to give scandal-hit former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher his government role and said: ‘I apologise for it.’

Mr Pincher quit as deputy chief whip last week following claims that he groped two men at a private members’ club, but Mr Johnson was told about allegations against him as far back as 2019.

The prime minister acknowledged he should have sacked Mr Pincher when he was told about the claims against him when he was a Foreign Office minister in 2019, but instead Mr Johnson went on to appoint him to other government roles.

Asked if that was an error, Mr Johnson said: ‘I think it was a mistake and I apologise for it. In hindsight it was the wrong thing to do.’