Kim Darroch resigns: British ambassador to US quits over leaked comments criticising Trump

Kim Darroch has quit as UK ambassador to the United States, saying his job had become “impossible” after his savaging by Donald Trump.

The top diplomat announced his resignation, hours after Boris Johnson refused to say he would stand by him if he wins the race for No 10.

“Since the leak of official documents from this embassy, there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding my position and the duration of my remaining term as ambassador,” Sir Kim wrote.

“I want to put an end to that speculation. The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.

“Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.”

The resignation comes amid a major diplomatic crisis yesterday, prompted by the US president attacking Sir Kim as “a pompous fool” and after his commerce secretary scrapped planned trade talks with Liam Fox, the UK trade secretary.

Mr Trump had already vowed he would not deal with the ambassador, following the leak of UK diplomatic memos calling him “incompetent”, “inept” and “insecure”.

He used Twitter to attack the envoy, whom he also described as “wacky” and “very stupid”, while branding Theresa May “foolish”.

The controversy escalated when Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership candidate, responded by calling the president's language “disrespectful and wrong”.

Sir Kim had to withdrew from a White House meeting he was due to attend in Washington with Dr Fox and the president’s daughter and adviser, Ivanka.

The resignation came just moments before prime minister’s questions, at which Ms May described Sir Kim leaving as a matter of “great regret”.

The prime minister – who has declined to respond directly to Mr Trump’s attacks on her and her ambassador – again chose not to criticise the president’s tweets.

“The whole cabinet rightly gave its full support to Sir Kim on Tuesday. Sir Kim has given a lifetime of service to the United Kingdom and we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude,” she told MPs.

“Good government depends on public servants being able to give full and frank advice. I want all our public servants to have the confidence to be able to do that and I hope the House will reflect on the importance of defending our values and principles particularly when they are under pressure.”

No 10 had repeatedly insisted Sir Kim was still able to “carry out his duties”, despite his unprecedented cold-shouldering by the country widely seen as the UK’s closest ally.

In his letter, he added: “Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.

“The professionalism and integrity of the British civil service is the envy of the world. I will leave it full of confidence that its values remain in safe hands.”