Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has today tendered his resignation to the Prime Minister.

Responding on behalf of Mental Health Matters, Chief Executive Officer Jane Hughes has said:

"Despite the reasons behind this resignation being party political, there is a real impact for the NHS and mental health services, one that should be of great concern to us all.

The King's Speech laid out big changes to the current system, including the wide-reaching NHS Modernisation Bill. Delivering on those proposals will require strong stewardship going forward.

The NHS is navigating one of the most significant periods of change in its history: the abolition of NHS England, sweeping structural reform, and now the loss of the Secretary of State. At this moment the health service needs someone steering the ship. That position is now vacant.

With a new Secretary of State and junior minister now expected to take office, it is essential that they are brought up to speed and disruption to services is kept to an absolute minimum.

We have said repeatedly that this government must prioritise mental health, and we will say now that it must not slip even further down that list of priorities amidst political uncertainty.

We hope the new Secretary of State will listen to voices of the sector on this issue. The time to prioritise mental health was yesterday."