Boris Johnson has fired Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, from his cabinet after urging the Prime Minister to quit.
On Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister called Mr Gove to inform him that he had been fired.
A No 10 source said: “You can’t have a snake who is not with you on any of the big arguments who then gleefully tells the press the leader has to go.”
He reminded senior MPs on the Commons Liaison Committee that “walking away” in the face of economic challenges and the Ukraine crisis would be inappropriate.
A Downing Street insider also denied that the Prime Minister will announce his resignation in Downing Street later.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, a previous close ally, has spoken with the Prime Minister, as did Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart.
Context
Mr Gove has had a strained relationship with the prime minister, having worked closely with him on the Vote Leave campaign before derailing Mr Johnson’s leadership ambition and running against him in 2016.
The dismissal of the Surrey Heath MP sparked another resignation from the administration on a day characterized by hundreds.
This time, Danny Kruger, a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department of Levelling Up, who expressed deep regret that Mr Gove had been fired, adding, “As I told No 10 earlier today, it should be the PM leaving office.”
Source: BBC