Michael Fabricant says: “It has been my privilege to serve in David Cameron’s first Government and then, after I resigned to help in the fight against HS2, as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party.

“David was a very approachable PM and we often texted each other as well as having more formal conversations. We share common socially liberal values not only on Equal Marriage, but also on the need to modernise the economy after the 2008 world banking crash. We didn’t agree on everything – HS2 and Brexit are the main examples – but that didn’t seem to damage our working relationship and we agreed on most things.

“The last six years have been exciting but in that period 2.5 million more people are in work and unemployment in the Lichfield constituency has been reduced to just 0.8%. That is phenomenal particularly compared with the performance of our European neighbours. And nearly 3 million new apprenticeships have been created.

“I wish David well for the future and thank him for giving our nation the chance to vote on leaving the European Union.”

In his final Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron ended by saying:-

“I will watch these exchanges from the back benches. I will miss the roar of the crowd, I will miss the barbs from the opposition, but I will be willing you on.

“And when I say willingly you on, I don’t just mean willing on the new prime minister at this despatch box, or indeed just willing on the front bench defending the manifesto that I helped put together. But I mean willing all of you on, because people come here with huge passion for the issues they are about. They come here with great love for the constituencies that they represent. And also willing on this place. Because, yes, we can be pretty tough and test and challenge our leaders – perhaps more than some other countries – but that is something we should be proud of and we should keep at it, and I hope you will all keep at it, and I will will you on as you do.

“The last thing I would say is that you can achieve a lot of things in politics. You can get a lot of things done. And that in the end, the public service, the national interest, that is what it is all about. Nothing is really impossible if you put your mind to it. After all, as I once said: ‘I was the future once.’”