Why I submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM

LAST week I made it public knowledge that I had submitted a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister to the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady MP. It was not a decision that I took lightly nor one that I ever envisaged making.

First and foremost, I have not lost confidence in this Government or my political party. The Conservative Party has delivered on the result of the EU referendum. It has protected us through the pandemic and ensured that millions of salaries and jobs continued to be safeguarded. Now it is focused on delivering across our country in rural, urban and coastal communities. The levelling up agenda offers the greatest reset across all regions of the country in a generation. I wholeheartedly support these policies and the ministers who are set on delivering this ambitious, yet achievable agenda.

Locally, we have had some significant wins. From the campaign to lower VAT for the tourism and hospitality sector to 5%, to ending the business rates loophole for second homes, to securing more investment in our digital network and our hightech businesses. In the two years since I have been elected, I can genuinely point to the concrete examples of where I and the Conservatives have delivered for the better.

However, over the last two years, most of these significant changes and benefits have been overshadowed by the actions and behaviour of those in No 10. From Dominic Cummings to Owen Patterson to wallpaper and now to ‘party gate’. When elected officials and those in positions of power believe they are above the law, then it is time to pause and contemplate their very suitability for high office.

Like so many readers, I followed the rules over the last two years because not only had I voted on many of them, but because it was the law and it would help to keep others safe. As a result, I missed the funerals of those close to me. I missed meeting my new nephew for many months. I, like so many, was unable to mourn, celebrate or relax with those closest to me because there was a higher common goal.

Unfortunately, this attitude and approach appear not to have been followed in No 10. Worse still, when questioned about the series of events having taken place in No 10, the Prime Minister appears to have given a very different answer at the end of 2021 to the answer he is now giving. The truth matters in every walk of life, but in particular in public service.

I grew up with the belief that public office requires honesty, transparency, decency and kindness. I am sorry to say that there is a blurring of the truth. On Wednesday, I tweeted that ‘standards in public life matter’. I felt then as I do now that it was better to stand up and be counted and to remind you, as my constituents and voters, that many of us in Westminster do hold dearly the values that all elected officials should aspire and adhere to.

I remain committed to my Country, my constituency and my political party. I can only hope readers will understand where I am coming from and recognise that we can do politics far better than is currently being exhibited.

■ Anthony Mangnall is the Conservative MP for Totnes and South Devon. This piece was first published on Wednesday in WMN sister newspaper the Herald Express.