UK climate change minister Graham Stuart resigns

Britain's climate change minister Graham Stuart resigned from the government after eight years on Friday, saying it was the right time to step down, Azernews reports.

Stuart said he would stand again for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives in an election expected later this year, with the opposition Labour Party leading in polls by a large margin.

"Having served as a minister for most of the last eight years I have decided that now is the time to stand down," he said in a letter to Sunak posted on social media platform X.

"I will continue to give you my full support from the backbenches."

Sunak's office said Justin Tomlinson, a former junior minister in the work and pensions department, would replace Stuart as climate minister.