Rishi Sunak has suffered a fresh blow after Robert Halfon, the Skills Minister, quit his post and announced he will stand down as an MP at the next election.
Mr Halfon, the Tory MP for Harlow in Essex, became the 63rd Conservative to announce that they plan to quit Parliament on Tuesday.
In a letter to his local Tory association, Mr Halfon explained his decision to stand down as an MP by quoting from The Lord of the Rings.
“As I move towards stepping down at the General Election, I am reminded of what Gandalf said to Frodo Baggins after the defeat of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings,” he wrote.
“I am with you at present…but soon I shall not be. I am not coming to the Shire…My time is over: it is no longer my task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so.
“And as for you, my dear friends, you will need no help…among the great you are, and I have no longer any fear at all for any of you.
“Although I often feel more like the character Bilbo Baggins than Gandalf, I believe these words have great resonance, and perfectly capture my feelings as I move onto my next journey in life.”