Construction minister resigns

Construction minister Lee Rowley has resigned from prime minister Boris Johnson’s government.

Rowley is one of the latest in a wave of ministers to resign their posts, amid pressure on Johnson to step down.

Johnson, for his part, has insisted that he will continue in his role.

Derbyshire MP Rowley replaced Anne-Marie Trevelyan in the role of construction minister in September last year. At the time, that made him the sixth person to hold the position in two and a half years.

In a joint letter signed by four fellow members of the government, MPs Kemi Badenoch, Neil O’Brien, Alex Burghart and Julia Lopez, Rowley told Johnson: “We must ask that, for the good of the party and the country, you step aside.”