THE former MP for North West Hampshire has quit the government in protest against Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament.

Sir George Young resigned from the House of Lords on Thursday following the news of plans to shut down parliament for five weeks, starting the second week of September.

He stated in his resignation letter he was “very unhappy at the timing and length” as well as the “motivation” of the prorogation.

Lord Young was MP for North West Hampshire from 1997 until his retirement in 2015.

He was granted a peerage in September of that year, and as such became a member of the House of Lords where he was a government whip and prominent Conservative frontbencher.

Lord Young has served in every government since Margaret Thatcher’s in 1979 but will do so no more after revealing he “cannot continue to serve” in Mr Johnson’s team.

His resignation letter also noted that he believes the prorogation “risks undermining the fundamental role of Parliament at a critical time, and reinforces the view that the Government may not have the confidence of the House for its Brexit policy”.

He added that he is “not part of any Remainer plot” and had not spoken to anyone about his decision to resign, which was a “purely personal” one.