Northumberland MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan announces support for backbencher Tom Tugendhat to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minster and Tory party leader

The Secretary of State for International Trade, who represents the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency, remained loyal to Downing Street's embattled incumbent Boris Johnson, even as her fellow cabinet ministers quit their posts.

Following Johnson’s announcement he would be stepping down, Ms Trevelyan praised him for “delivering Brexit against all the odds” and his “support of Ukraine against the barbarism of Putin’s illegal invasion”.

So far, at least 11 candidates have declared themselves in the running to succeed the current Prime Minister.

And in a video posted on social media over the weekend, Trevelyan threw her weight behind Tugendhat, the only hopeful without any previous ministerial experience.

She said: “I’m backing Tom Tugendhat to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom because he is ambitious for the reforms we need to deliver in order to make Brexit work and for our economy to thrive.

“He is brave in making the difficult decisions we will need to make, both at home and on the world stage, and he is committed to protecting and championing our great union.

“I believe Tom Tugendhat can deliver the reforms and the leadership that we need in the years ahead.

“We’ve seen him deliver in some of the harshest, most difficult places on earth and I know he will be a champion and fantastic leader for the United Kingdom.”

Tugendhat, a former soldier, has been an MP since 2015 and has also been backed to replace the Prime Minister by Damian Green, formerly a senior member of Theresa May’s government.