A Conservative peer has quit as a justice minister over Covid law-breaking in Downing Street.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were fined for attending a party in No 10 during lockdown.
In a letter to Mr Johnson, Lord David Wolfson criticised the “official response” to “repeated rule-breaking”.
He is the first person to quit the government since reports of lockdown parties emerged.
Barrister Lord Wolfson has been a justice minister since December 2020, with responsibility for human rights and the constitution.
In his resignation letter, he said the “scale, context and nature” of Covid breaches in government was inconsistent with the rule of law.
He added that he had “no option” other than to resign, given his “ministerial and professional obligations” in this area.
Opposition parties have said Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak must quit after being fined for attending the event in June 2020.
The fine meant Mr Johnson became the UK’s first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law.
But he and Mr Sunak have rejected calls to resign, instead insisting they wanted to get on with their jobs.
Cabinet ministers have backed the pair, whilst only one Conservative MP has publicly called for Mr Johnson to stand down.
