Two Sussex Conservative MPs are calling for the Prime Minister to resign following turmoil on financial markets and chaos during a vote on fracking.

Henry Smith, MP for Crawley, and Lewes MP Maria Caulfield are among more than a dozen Tory MPs to call for Liz Truss to leave office.

In an interview with Times Radio, Mr Smith said that the country needed “strong leadership” and said: “I did fear she would be out of her depth as Prime Minister”.

He said: “In a time of uncertainty, we need solid leadership and I’m sorry to say that has been distinctly lacking from Downing Street for several weeks.

“She should do the honourable thing and say that her premiership has made the wrong calls, not just once or twice, but consistently since coming into office, and now that it is time for strong leadership to come back to this country.”

Mr Smith also said that he thought that the pressure on the Prime Minister to resign would gain momentum “in the coming hours and days”.

The Crawley MP was among 32 Tory MPs to abstain on an opposition motion calling for a vote on banning fracking.

The Conservative Party had warned that any of their MPs that either voted against the government or did not vote could risk being removed from the party’s group in parliament - a threat that was later revoked.

The Conservatives had previously pledged in their 2019 manifesto to maintain the ban on fracking, but the prohibition was lifted by the Truss administration.

Mr Smith said that he abstained from the vote as “he wasn’t prepared to go against an election pledge I stood on not to introduce fracking

Lewes MP and former health minister Maria Caulfield joined the calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation, retweeting an interview of the Conservative MP Charles Walker.

In the clip, Mr Walker said: “All those people that put Liz Truss in Number 10, I hope it was worth it”.

He also described the chaos surrounding last night’s vote in the House of Commons as a “shambles and a disgrace”.

Ms Caulfield shared the clip with the caption: “Tonight, we are all Charles Walker.”

Gillian Keegan, MP for Chichester and Foreign Office minister, also abstained from the vote but has yet to comment publicly.