A Leeds MP now believes Dominic Cummings' positon is "untenable" because his actions were "wrong and outside of the regulations".
Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Elmet and Rothwell, had initially appeared to show his support for the advisor when he retweeted a post defending Mr Cummings on Twitter.
Now, in an email sent this afternoon in response to criticisms from one of his own constituents, Mr Shelbrooke confirmed to them that he had initially "understood" the decisions of Cummings, but that after hearing the statement made on Monday had changed his mind.
He said in the email: "Having now read the content of Mr Cummings’s statement on Monday I don’t believe his further journey to Barnard Castle was justifiable.
"Many of my constituents, myself included, have made difficult decisions over the last few months and I believe the decision Mr Cummings made to travel to Barnard Castle was wrong and outside of the regulations.
'For that reason, I think his position is untenable'
In an extroadinary press conference held in the gardens of Number 10 on Monday, Dominic Cummings said that he did not regret his decisons. This was after detailing his whereabouts over a two-week period where he travelled from his London to Durham to live near to his parents over fears for the safety of his child. It then was also clarified that he travelled 30 miles to the village of Barnard Castle to 'test his eyesight' before later making the trip back down to the capital.
He said: “I believe in all the circumstances I behaved reasonably and legally.”
He added: “I do not regret what I did” but added that “reasonable people may well disagree”.
What do the other Leeds MP's think?
Labour MP's representing the city unsurprisingly hit out at Dominic Cummings on social media. Leeds East MP Richard Burgon tweeted that "many more lives could be lost by the Government undermining the lockdown rules in the way it has".
MP for North East Leeds, Fabian Hamilton, echoed this sentiment, tweeting simply: “It’s one rule for Boris Johnson’s closest adviser, another for everybody else.”
Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel also slammed the advisor's actions publicly over the social media platform. While Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves hasn't directly criticised the advisor, she has retweeted Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's criticism of Cummings.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns (Morley and Outwood) appears to have fallen directly on party lines based on a retweet supporting Mr Cummings.
Fellow Tory MP Stuart Andrew and high profile Labour MP for Leeds Central Hilary Benn both remain silent on the matter.
Alec Shelbrooke finished his email saying that he had "made his views and those of his constituents known to the Chief Whip and Chairman of the backbench 1922 committee.
