Amber Rudd has been ‘a great champion for Hastings and Rye’ and has been ‘working tirelessly’ for her constituents since she was elected in 2010 according to Martin Clarke, chairman of the Hastings and Rye Conservatives.

“During the last nine years she has helped to achieve great improvements in many areas of life in the constituency and her work up to this point will not be forgotten,” he says and he tells members of the association, “I am very sorry to hear this news from Amber”.

However Mr Clarke’s view is not shared by everyone, writing on the association’s Facebook page Tommy Boyde says: “Martin Clarke you should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. When ‘so-called’ Conservative MPs try to bring down a Conservative government then it is the duty of local associations to recall and remove them and cause a by-election. The people of Hastings… voted for a Conservative MP.”

Yhtomit Seivad says: “I and other local members wrote to you about her more than once, she had no intention of adhering to the 2017 manifesto otherwise why was she on the media advocating a People’s Vote? Her disruptiveness in May’s cabinet was regular, stories of resignation regularly in the media and ultimately the abstention on a whipped vote when a minister, she should have resigned.

“There needs to be, very quickly, an overhaul of the local party to avoid the selection of another no hoper.”

But Oliver Leonard says: “I’d rather side with remainers like Amber and Phillip (Hammond) than far-right extremists like Boris.”

Ms Rudd announced last night that she was resigning from her cabinet post as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was also resigning the Conservative whip in parliament. She explained on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC this morning that she remains a Conservative and hopes it might still be possible for her and the 21 other Conservative MPs, who had the whip removed last week when they rebelled against the government, to fight a forthcoming election as official Conservative candidates.

Peter Chowney, labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for Hastings and the man who fell only 346 votes short of unseating Ms Rudd in 2017 said this morning: “Amber Rudd has resigned from her post as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions… citing Boris Johnson’s lack of progress with Brexit negotiations as her core reason.

“In a statement, which echoes Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s view, she concedes there is a significant lack of preparation in obtaining a deal with Brussels as the UK leaves the European Union.

“I’m pleased that Amber Rudd has realised what many of us knew already: that the Tories are in utter disarray, and that Boris Johnson is not fit to be an MP, let alone Prime Minister.

“She once said that Boris Johnson was the life and soul of the party, but you wouldn’t want him to give you a lift home. Now she’s firmly slammed the door on him and decided to walk away, avoiding the car crash this government has turned into.

“I look forward to other prominent Conservatives, both nationally and locally, taking the same honourable route.”

Ms Rudd’s resignation follows a weekend of action in Hastings, which included a protest led by Hastings and Rye CLP outside her surgery over the prorogation of parliament and a cross-party signing of a letter expressing their disappointment over the MPs broken Brexit promises.

Nick Perry, the Liberal Democrats PPC in Hastings and Rye told Hastings In Focus: “Amber Rudd’s resignation provides further evidence that Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party is now a Trojan horse for the Brexit Party.

“With the Conservatives and Labour in the hands of political hardliners, the Liberal Democrats will continue to welcome voters who want an open, tolerant and socially progressive party, committed to economic competence, and stopping Brexit altogether.”

A spokesman for Hastings and Rye Green Party says they welcome the decision of Ms Rudd to resign from the cabinet.

“She cited The Prime Minister’s ‘assault on decency and democracy’, as well as her belief that the government had no real intention of negotiating any kind of deal with the EU. We are surprised that it took her so long to understand that her Prime Minister, Mr Johnson, is a man whose word means nothing, but if she can now see it then so can everyone.

“Brexit is a project driven by rich elitists and liars, with the aim of swindling the rest of the country. To leave the EU with no deal would be catastrophic for the people of Hastings, as Rudd belatedly acknowledges.” say the Green Party

Hear Amber Rudd on the Andrew Marr Show