WELLINGTON and Wiveliscombe MP Rebecca Pow this morning (Thursday) resigned ‘with a heavy heart’ her post in Government as Environment Minister, a job which had been her ‘life’s dream’.
Ms Pow, who has been at home suffering from Covid for the past few days, posted her resignation letter on Twitter shortly after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would stand down.
In the letter, which appeared to have been written before the announcement, she told Mr Johnson she hoped ‘this day would not come’ but now believed his position was not tenable.
Ms Pow wrote: “I have to put values, integrity, and the moral code by which I live and which I have taught my own children to live by first, and those qualities have been sadly lacking in too many decisions coming from the top, despite many chances to correct matters.
“I have enormous respect for your initial election victory, for delivering Brexit, and for leading us through the pandemic, and for recognising that environmental issues and climate change had to rise up the agenda.
“However, too much has changed and the party and the good of the country has to come first and I fear under your leadership it has veered too far off course.”
Ms Pow said she had waited before resigning because she thought Mr Johnson ‘would do the right thing and step aside for the good of the party and the country’.
However, this had not happened.
She said: “Now is time for me with great sadness to step down from the role that is in essence my life’s dream, the culmination of my life’s experiences, and where I believe I was making a difference for all of our futures.
“It has been the honour of my life to serve as Environment Minister for this country under the Conservative party, it is my greatest achievement to have steered the Environment Bill through Parliament over a two-year period and to subsequently be working on all that it delivers, which will set us on a sustainable trajectory for future generations.”
Ms Pow said she would now continue to ‘focus on my constituency of Taunton Deane, which I have done since being honoured to be elected their representative in 2015’.
Previously, Ms Pow had refused to say whether or not she supported the Prime Minister when Conservative MPs held a confidence vote, which he won.
No reaction yet to PM exit
Ms Pow was today (Thursday) remaining tightlipped over the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Ms Pow, who was Environment Minister in the Government until she resigned, previously refused to say how she voted when Conservative MPs held a confidence vote in Mr Johnson, which he won.
The Wellington Weekly News has approached her for a comment on the Prime Minister’s decision to resign to allow a new leader to be appointed in the autumn.
However, she had not responded as the newspaper went to press.