Crawley MP Henry Smith calls on Prime Minister Liz Truss to go

He is the only Sussex MP who has so far joined a growing band of MPs to call on the premier to step aside.

Mr Smith, MP for Crawley since 2010, said in a Tweet yesterday (Wednesday) that Britain needed ‘true leadership’ and criticised the departure of Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

And he is reported by The Telegraph to have told Times Radio: "I think we need new leadership. In a time of uncertainty, we need solid leadership and I'm afraid I'm very sorry to say that has been distinctly lacking from Downing Street in the last several weeks.

"I think she should do the honourable thing and say that her premiership has made the wrong calls not just once or twice, but consistently since coming into office almost two months ago. And that now it's time for strong leadership to come back to this country, the sort of strong leadership we did actually see under Boris Johnson's administration.

"I've been a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee for the past two and a half years. So I saw her in action scrutinising her when she was a foreign secretary. And I have to say, I did fear that she may be out of her depth as prime minister.

"I think events will probably gain momentum in the coming hours and days ... I think members should be involved as much as possible in choosing the leader.”

But he said that time was pressing “and we can't delay."