THERESA May will find it difficult to cling to power after the resignation of a clutch of ministers, Poole’s MP has said.

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and work and pensions secretary Esther McVey both quit the cabinet yesterday, along with two junior ministers.

Mr Raab’s resignation meant Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Michael Tomlinson lost his post as the minister’s parliamentary private secretary after just three days in the role.

Meanwhile, leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg submitted a letter seeking a vote of no confidence in Mrs May as Tory leader.

Poole’s Brexit-supporting MP Sir Robert Syms said he personally backed the EU withdrawal agreement which was agreed by the cabinet on Wednesday

He said: “I’m not quite sure how things are going to pan out. My guess is if quite a lot of ministers go, it will be difficult for Theresa to hang on in there.”

But he added: “I think it still has broad support from a lot of people in the party.”

He said if the agreement failed, Britain could leave the EU without a deal. “I’d prefer that to staying but it will be a bumpy road,” he said.

As Theresa May faced hostile questions from the House of Commons, South Dorset MP Richard Drax claimed the withdrawal agreement left “no unilateral way of leaving and worse still there is no incentive there at all for the EU to let us go”.

Mrs May replied that there would be a transition period, during which “the way we operate with the European Union will continue very much as it is today”. This would avoid a “cliff edge for business”.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns was credited by the Daily Mail with starting the moves against Mrs May before Wednesday’s cabinet. He told Sky News: “There comes a point where if the PM is insistent that she will not change the policy, then the only way to change the policy is to change the personnel.”

Ian Girling, chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “Whatever their view, the majority of businesses want a smooth, orderly and transparent Brexit which protects jobs and supply chains while giving them the certainty needed to invest and grow. I urge Theresa May and all MPs to consider their actions very carefully over the coming days and weeks to set aside politics and act in the national interest.”

He added: “Lack of certainty over Brexit has become a fact of life of business but the sooner we know where we stand the sooner we can all get on with our day jobs: growing our businesses, driving the economy and creating wealth for our communities.”

But Brexit supporter Simon Boyd, managing director of REIDsteel in Christchurch, called for Mrs May to quit.

He said: “Theresa May’s Brexit deal is dead in the water.

“I applaud Dominic Raab and his fellow ministers who have recognised this deal for the ill-conceived and humiliating betrayal of Brexit that it is.

“Its 580 pages represent the longest resignation letter by a prime minister in history. Her position is untenable and she must go now. I urge other Conservative MPs to follow Jacob Rees-Mogg’s lead in his declaration of no confidence in Mrs May.”

n See opinion column, page 19.