South Swindon MP Sir Robert Buckland has resigned from the Cabinet.

The former Justice Secretary under Boris Johnson and, until this lunchtime, Welsh Secretary since July, says he has stepped down of his own volition.

He tweeted a picture of his letter to the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and tweeted: “It has been an honour to serve as Secretary of State for Wales, and to have served four Prime Ministers as Solicitor General, Justice Minister & Lord Chancellor. 

"I am leaving the Government at my request but will be supporting Rishi Sunak from the backbenches.”

In his letter to the PM, Sir Robert said: “I am grateful to you for our meeting earlier. At my request I am writing to submit my resignation from the government.

“At the Wales Office I was able to make significant progress on our Levelling Up agenda, launching the Welsh Freeports bidding process and continuing the rollout of the shared prosperity fund.

“It was the honour of my life to have helped lead ceremonial events in Cardiff on the sad death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of His Majesty the King last month.

“I have always been proud to be a unionist, proud to be Welsh and proud to serve in the UK Government. I firmly believe we are one family and one nation with shared values, and we are stronger together, which is why I was proud to serve once again in Cabinet.”

He went on: “You can be assured of my support from the backbenches as we deal with the economic and security crisis that faces us. We have now to come together to deliver our 2019 manifesto and to ensure our country emerges from the storms that beset us."

Sir Robert finishes with, in a way, a request for a new job. He said: “I will continue to serve my fellow residents in South Swindon as I have done since 2020, and I am also looking forward to working on issues relating to autism and employment with you and would like to lead a review as to how business and private enterprise can help us bridge the employment gap, which for autistic people is just too great.”

One slight quirk of the letter is that Sir Robert’s signature lists the fact he is a KC - King’s Counsel, a senior barrister.

But the letterhead still has him as a QC - a Queen’s council, suggesting Sir Robert, perhaps out of thrift or environmentalism or both, is still using a batch printed before the Queen’s death.