Sam Gyimah: Who is the former universities minister and why has he resigned over Brexit?

East Surrey MP has been considered a 'rising star' for nearly two decades

Sam Gyimah has been considered a "rising star" for nearly two decades. The East Surrey MP was born in Beaconsfield, but split from his single mother aged six and was sent to live in Ghana, before returning to a state comprehensive to complete his GCSEs and A-Levels. The 42-year-old credited "good schools with great teachers" as he earned a place at Somerville College, Oxford, to read philosophy, politics and economics.

His political teeth were cut at the Oxford Union, where he served as president, and sharpened as he stood for Camden council elections unsuccessfully.

Initially employed by Goldman Sachs as an investment banker, where he worked on mergers and acquisitions, Mr Gyimah was added to the Conservative party A-List and selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for East Surrey in 2010 following the retirement of Peter Ainsworth.

He took the seat with a 17,000 vote majority and had only been in Westminster for two years when he was made parliamentary private secretary to then prime minister David Cameron.

He pushed for a bigger role in government, becoming a whip in 2013 before holding various posts as a ministerial aide, before being appointed universities minister earlier this year. Outside Westminster circles, his following increased after he appeared to quote from Harry Potter during Question Time. When discussing US President Donald Trump's Britain First retweets and Theresa May's condemnation, he channelled Albus Dumbledore and said: "It takes great bravery to stand up to your enemies, it takes even more bravery to stand up to your friends.

Ahead of the Conservatives' annual conference in 2018, he was one of several prominent MPs to issue a warning about the future direction of the party, suggesting they had lost their way with business. He also pleaded with his colleagues that while attacking Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party was "necessary", it was "not sufficient", as he called for a "true renaissance on the right", with people coming forward with new ideas to make the case for open markets.

"Yes, we need to be honest about the failings of capitalism, while making the case that it's not the best system we've got," he said on the eve of the Conservatives' gathering in Birmingham.

But he decided to walk away from government on Friday over the negotiated UK-EU agreement that MPs are expected to vote on in ten days' time. He has been unequivocal: he will vote down the deal.

The final straw for the now ex-minister, who voted Remain at the 2016 referendum, appeared to be Theresa May abandoning efforts to remain party of the EU's Galileo satellite navigation project post-Brexit - following restrictions the bloc wanted to impose.

He warned that this was a "foretaste of the brutal negotiations" to come over the future trading relationship, adding: “They [the EU] set the hurdles you have to clear. It is like playing a football game against another team when they are the referee and they can make the rules as they go along.”

Describing the prime minister's agreement as a "deal in name only", he also became one of several Conservative MPs who have publicly voiced support for a fresh referendum over the deal, saying it will be the "most sensible" route should Ms May's agreement be voted down in the House of Commons.