The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Odds are this will not be the last Cabinet departure
Tracey Crouch’s departure comes after seven Cabinet members left their posts under Prime Minister Theresa May since the 2017 general election.
The first to leave was defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon, who resigned exactly one year ago on November 1 after being caught up in Westminster sleaze allegations.
He said his behaviour had “fallen below the high standards required” after admitting putting his hand on the knee of radio presenter Julia HartleyBrewer some years ago.
One week later, Priti Patel quit as international development secretary over undisclosed and unauthorised meetings in Israel, including with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In her resignation letter she echoed the words of Sir Michael, saying her actions “fell below the high standards” expected.
The following month, Mrs May’s deputy Damian Green left the Cabinet after a probe found he made “inaccurate and misleading” statements about pornography on his computer.
Justine Greening was sacked in the PM’s reshuffle in January after refusing to move from her education post to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Home secretary Amber Rudd resigned in April after admitting she had “inadvertently” misled MPs over the existence of targets for removing illegal immigrants over the Windrush scandal.
Brexit secretary David Davis quit in July following crunch talks at Chequers, saying the agreed trade position for the White Paper meant “we are giving too much away too easily and that’s a dangerous strategy at this time”.
He was followed just 12 hours later by foreign secretary Boris Johnson who quit the following day.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Johnson said her Chequers vision for Brexit meant that the UK was “truly headed for the status of colony” of the EU.