Nigel Adams formally resigns as Conservative MP for Selby over Boris Johnson row
It follows a row over former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation honours list
Nigel Adams has formally resigned as the Conservative MP for Selby and Ainsty, triggering a by-election in the North Yorkshire constituency.
He's quitting amid a row over former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation list, who's accused current PM Rishi Sunak of blocking appointments to the House of Lords.
Mr. Adams was appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, a legal mechanism that allows MPs to leave Parliament.
In a post on LinkedIn on Sunday, Mr Adams said he would still support the Conservative Party, urging them to win the 2024 election with Rishi Sunak in charge.
Just minutes later, Mr. Johnson himself wrote to the Chancellor, formally resigning as a Conservative MP.
It came after Rishi Sunak said Boris Johnson asked him to "do something I wasn't prepared to do", when asked about whether anyone in No 10 had intervened in the former prime minister's resignation honours list.
Taking questions at the London Tech week conference, Mr Sunak said: "Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn't prepared to do, because I didn't think it was right."
"That was to either overrule the Holac (House of Lords Appointments Commission) committee or to make promises to people.
"Now, I wasn't prepared to do that. I didn't think it was right and if people don't like that, then tough."
In a statement, Boris Johnson said: "Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish. To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac - but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality."