5 Senior Aides to Boris Johnson Resign

Five senior aides to Boris Johnson resigned from Downing Street hours of each other amid growing pressure on the prime minister, media outlets reported on Friday.

Number Ten Policy Unit member Elena Narozanski is the latest aide to leave Johnson's Downing Street operation amid the continuing fallout from the party gate allegations.

In the same vein, director of communications Jack Doyle announced his exit shortly after the departure of policy head Munira Mirza.

Later on, the two were followed by the chief of staff Dan Rosenfield and senior civil servant Martin Reynolds.

The top aides' resignations came as Johnson faces increasing questions over his leadership from within his party.

Doyle told staff that "recent weeks have taken a terrible toll on my family life", but that he had always intended to leave after two years.

A statement from a No 10 spokeswoman revealed that Rosenfield, the prime minister's principal private secretary, had offered his resignation to Johnson earlier on Thursday.

Mirza quit over the PM's false claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions, and his refusal to apologize.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak publicly distanced himself from the PM's original comment, saying: "Being honest, I wouldn't have said it."

Asked if Johnson should apologize, he said: "That's for the prime minister to decide."

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said: "With [Johnson's] senior advisers and aides quitting, perhaps it is finally time for him to look in the mirror and consider if he might just be the problem."