A MINISTERIAL aide blasted the “toxic culture” of No 10 today as he quit over the partygate scandal.

Tory MP Paul Holmes resigned as a parliamentary private secretary to Home Secretary Priti Patel, saying that he was “shocked and angered” by the revelations in the Sue Gray report.

He blasted the “deep mistrust” created by the breaking of Covid rules and said that the scandal is undermining his work for constituents in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

“It is distressing to me that this work on your behalf has been tarnished by the toxic culture that seemed to have permeated No 10,” he wrote on his website.

However, Mr Holmes stopped short of calling for Boris Johnson to step down.

But the resignation marks another blow to the Prime Minister after four Tory MPs, Julian Sturdy, Stephen Hammond, David Simmons and John Baron, went public this week with resignation demands in response to the damning report, which laid bare the parties in No 10 at a time when millions of people were forced to comply with strict lockdown regulations.

Mr Johnson faces further pressure from an inquiry into whether he lied to Parliament by repeatedly claiming that no rule-breaking had taken place in Downing Street.