New education secretary Michelle Donelan resigns
Michelle Donelan, who was appointed education secretary on 5 July, has resigned in under 48 hours into the role.
Donelan was promoted from universities minister to education secretary, after Nadhim Zahawi was made chancellor.
She tweeted this morning that "With great sadness I must resign from government."
Her resignation letter said: “While I remain very worried about the prospect of no ministers in the department as we approach results day – the impact on students is real – as you know yesterday I pleaded with you to do the right thing and resign for the sake of our country and our party, both are more important than any one person.”
The letter continued: “I see no way that you can continue in post, but without a formal mechanism to remove you it seems that the only way that this is only possible is for those of us who remain in cabinet to force your hand.”
With Schools minister Robin Walker and Children’s minister Will Quince also resigning, that leaves only one minister left in the Department for Education - Baroness Barran, who is Minister for the School System.
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