Local Green Party councillor Cllr James Kennedy has said he hopes Boris Johnson's resignation as prime minister today will signal a big change in government.

The Kenilworth Town Council leader said he was pleased to see Mr Johnson "finally go" and said local people want a "sensible, evidence-based government".

"I'm pleased to see Boris Johnson finally go, but we're still left with the same self-serving, short-termist, irresponsible Conservative government that for so long chose to prop up a prime minister who wasn't fit to govern," the town and district councillor said to Nub News.

"People I talk to in Kenilworth are crying out for sensible, evidence-based government trying to solve the massive challenges we face on the cost of living, energy and the climate.

"We'll carry on bringing forward constructive proposals locally – it's about time that central government started to do the same."

Mr Johnson's resignation today comes after more than 50 ministers quit as more facts emerged about the Chris Pincher affair.

In a speech from Downing Street this afternoon he said it is "painful not to be able to see through so many projects and ideas".

He added: "I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them's the breaks."

He will stay at No. 10 until the autumn when there will be a Conservative leadership contest.

Kenilworth Liberal Democrats

Kenilworth's Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Jenny Wilkinson said today's announcement has been "far too long coming".

Speaking to Nub News she said: "Finally, after an embarrassingly long attempt to ignore reality, Johnson has been forced to accept that his time is up.

"But this has been far too long coming and voters are not going to forget how the Conservatives have been propping him up for so long.

"Johnson's lack of integrity has been clear for months and too many in the Conservative Party have spent those months defending him when our Government should have been addressing the urgent issues facing our country, such as the cost-of-living crisis and the huge challenges for our NHS."

Jenny Wilkinson: 'after an embarrassingly long attempt to ignore reality, Johnson has been forced to accept that his time is up'

And Lib Dem town and district councillors Cllr Richard Dickson said the problems go beyond the leader of the Conservative Party.

"Remember who it was who sat on the fence for so long. defending the indefensible. Who came out only at the last minute or who remained silent.

"And all this whilst we're suffering soaring energy and fuel bills. Massive waiting times in the NHS. A broken justice system.

"We need to change our political system so that our country never gets in this mess again."

Local MPs

MP for Kenilworth and Southam Sir Jeremy Wright has been calling on the PM to resign since the he Sue Gray report was published.

Sir Jeremy said Mr Johnson had caused "real and lasting damage" to the Government's reputation.

And having voted against the PM in the failed no-confidence bid, Sir Jeremy said his view on the PM had been "reinforced" following the Chris Pincher affair.

Other local Conservatives had also called for a change in party leadership, with MP for Stratford-on-Avon Nadhim Zahawi this morning saying that Mr Johnson should "leave with dignity".

A letter he sent to Mr Johnson today - just two days after accepting his new post as Chancellor of the Exchequer - said: "Yesterday, I made clear to the prime minister alongside my colleagues in No. 10 that there was only one direction where this was going, and that he should leave with dignity.

"Out of respect, and in the hopes that he would listen to an old friend of 30 years, I kept this counsel private.

"But the country deserves a government that is not only stable, but which acts with integrity."

Whilst Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington Matt Western said it was time for a general election.

His party colleague Zarah Sultana (MP for Coventry South) said it was "good riddance" and said "shame on those who enabled him".

More to follow....