A West Devon councillor who resigned from the Conservative Party in the early pandemic due to what he described as the Prime Minister’s lack of integrity over his special advisor’s behaviour, says he now feels justified as Boris Johnson announced his resignation as party leader after pressure.

West Devon borough councillor Mike Davies quit the party in 2020 because of the Prime Minister’s backing of advisor Dominic Cummings who was accused of breaking lockdown rules.

He says his resignation letter was a met with a dismissive reaction by the party at the time which told him no one else had the same concerns.

However, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer resigning from Government, followed by colleagues, over concerns about the PM’s leadership, he now says he has been proved right.

Cllr Davies, an unaffiliated independent councillor for Okehampton North since his resignation, said: ‘I might not have been Chancellor of the Exchequer, but back in 2020 when I resigned as association chair and as a Conservative, I wrote to Boris Johnson advising of his apparent lack of decency and integrity in not thinking there was any issue with Dominic Cummings driving to Durham during lockdown.

‘I received a letter in reply from the then chairman of the party advising I was the only person who seemed to have an issue.

I’m pleased to see now that so many others now see the ‘issue’ that most have seen and known for many years. It was the right thing for Boris to go.’

He said Boris Johnson should have sacked Mr Cummings, who offered neither a resignation or an apology for driving from London to County Durham with his family during lockdown when his wife developed coronavirus symptoms.

Cllr Davies, who gave up his role as Conservative Central Devon Constituency Association chairman when he resigned, said: ‘The party told me my criticisms weren’t an issue at the time of the pandemic, but his current problems signifies a lack of moral judgement.

‘It’s all caught up with him and the Government now. It’s a real shame because people go into politics wanting to do their best for the communities they serve and this behaviour from the top of Government gives all politicians at all levels a bad name.’