Lord Wolfson, the justice minister, has become the first person to resign from the Government after Boris Johnson was given a police fine for breaking lockdown rules.

       The Conservative peer said "repeated rule-breaking, and breaches of the criminal law" in Downing Street had led him to submit his resignation.

       He said the "scale, context and nature" of the Covid lockdown breaches meant he could not continue to serve under Boris Johnson.

       Lord Wolfson said the breaches were especially serious "when many in society complied with the rules at great personal cost, and others were fined or prosecuted for similar, and sometimes apparently more trivial, offences".

       He took aim at Mr Johnson's reaction to the scandal and response to his fine in his letter of resignation, writing: "It is not just a question of what happened in Downing Street, or your own conduct. It is also, and perhaps more so, the official response to what took place.

       "As we obviously do not share that view of these matters, I must ask you to accept my resignation."

       It came as Tobias Elwood, the chairman of the defence select committee, said Mr Johnson should submit himself for a vote of no confidence if things "don't go to plan" at next month's local elections.

       He told Sky News that leaders "can and do get replaced in times of crisis" and that the "might" of the Armed Forces and the advice that they receive would not change if the Prime Minister was replaced.

       "MPs are absolutely torn by this," he said, adding that the Prime Minister needed a plan to "determine the party's best interests" because the UK did not have the luxury of being able to wait for a "pause or conclusion to Ukraine".

       "This is something Putin will now no doubt exploit. How can a law-maker also be a law-breaker – that's not a good look," he added.