Remainer ex-chancellor Philip Hammond quits as an MP after helping torpedo Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal

EX-CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond has quit as an MP just three weeks after helping to torpedo Boris Johnson's Brexit deal

Mr Hammond, who was Theresa May's right-hand man up at the Treasury until July, said today he will leave the Commons after 22 years.

He said today it was with "great sadness" that he felt he should quit after The Sun revealed he was banned from rejoining the Tory group in Parliament.

In his letter to constituents he said he felt forced to stand down because he is unable to stand against another Tory or would face being kicked out of the party altogether.

The Runnymede & Weybridge MP lost the Tory whip after voting repeatedly against the PM's Brexit plans.

That included for the so-called Surrender Act (Benn Act) which forced Boris to ask for a third delay to our EU exit.

And his final act before throwing in the towel was to vote against the PM's timetable for his Brexit Bill, which effectively killed the chances of leaving before October 31 as was repeatedly promised.

He said in his letter today: "I remain a Conservative and I cannot, therefore, embark on a course of action that would represent a direct challenge in a General Election to the party I have supported all my adult life.

"I will remain an active party member and will continue to make the case for doing whatever is necessary to deliver a negotiated future trade and security partnership between the UK and the EU."

And he promised to try to get more young people and business professionals to join the party and keep it "broad based".

The PM sacked 20 of the ex-Tories after they backed the Brexit-delaying Benn Act last month and another - Amber Rudd - quit in protest days later.

Anyone who hasn't been given the Tory whip back is barred from standing from the party.

Boris gave it back to 10 of them last week - allowing them to stand. But some - like Churchill's grandson Nicholas Soames - are quitting anyway.

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