Sir Alan Duncan resigns from government

Sir Alan Duncan has resigned from the government ahead of Boris Johnson’s expected election as Tory party leader this week.

The Foreign Office minister claimed Brexit had cast a “dark cloud” over the government and paid tribute to Theresa May, saying she “deserved better”.

More ministerial departures are expected this week, with Philip Hammond extraordinarily announcing on live TV he will resign as chancellor on Wednesday.

He told The Andrew Marr Show that he couldn’t serve under a government pursuing a no-deal exit from the EU and would resign.

Justice Secretary David Gauke is also set to quit the government ahead of a Johnson premiership, saying that crashing out of the EU would lead to national “humiliation”.

In his resignation letter, Sir Alan said: “It is tragic that just when we could have been the dominant intellectual and political force throughout Europe, and beyond, we have had to spend every day working beneath the dark cloud of Brexit.”

Sir Alan recently criticised Mr Johnson over the resignation of US ambassador Sir Kim Darroch.

He claimed the former foreign secretary had thrown Sir Kim "under the bus” after he refused to say he would keep the diplomat in post amid a fallout over leaked diplomatic cables.

Johnson is widely expected to beat rival Jeremy Hunt and become the leader of the Conservative Party when results are announced tomorrow.

The winner of the contest will visit Buckingham Palace on Wednesday and formally succeed Theresa May as prime minister.