A visibly furious Tory minister has attacked Boris Johnson for throwing the UK Ambassador to Washington "under the bus".
Sir Alan Duncan, a minister in the Foreign Office, led outrage at the Tory leadership favourite after
Sir Kim said it was "impossible" to do his job after Donald Trump attacked him over a memo that branded the White House "inept".
But MPs, ministers and Foreign Office insiders said the fault lay with the favourite to become Prime Minister in two weeks' time.
While Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt guaranteed the Ambassador could stay in post, Boris Johnson refused to do so last night.
Sir Alan said Mr Johnson was guilty of "contemptible negligence" and had "thrown this fantastic diplomat under the bus to serve his own personal interests".
On a campaign visit to a pub in London Boris Johnson gave his first reaction - saying: "My view is it's wrong to drag civil servants into the political arena."
But Sir Alan told the BBC News Channel: "I'm upset and angry.
"Boris Johnson, a former Foreign Secretary and he hopes to be the future Prime Minister, has basically thrown our top diplomat under the bus.
"And there are a lot of people here in the Commons who are very very angry and feel he has lost so much respect for having done what he's done.
"His disregard for Sir Kim Darroch and his refusal to back him was in my view pretty contemptible, but also not in the interests of the country he's trying to lead."
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, added: "Leaders stand up for their men. They encourage them to try and defend them when they fail."
Read our full story on Sir Kim Darroch's resignation and the fury at Boris Johnson
