Sir Kim Darroch shocked Westminster on Wednesday by quitting his top post after his memos that criticised the White House were leaked. The respected diplomat’s move has caused Britain’s relations with the US presidency to sink to its lowest levels in decades. The Tory leadership favourite came under fierce criticism after he failed to pledge his support for Sir Kim during ITV’s leadership debate on Tuesday night. His opponent, Jeremy Hunt, outlined that he would keep Sir Kim if he ended up in Downing Street. But Mr Johnson failed to guarantee the embattled diplomat’s employment.

Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan labelled Boris as an “utter wimp” who couldn’t stand up to US President Donald Trump’s twitter storm. He said that Boris had “thrown our top diplomat under a bus”.

Despite being stung by a wave of criticism Mr Johnson insisted he was “a great support of Kim’s”.

He revealed that he called the 65 year-old ambassador to commiserate.

Speaking to the Sun, Mr Johnson said: “I can’t believe they’re trying to blame me for this.

“It seems bizarre to me. I’m a great supporter of Kim’s. I worked very well with him for years.”

When asked why he failed to express his support for Sir Kim during the live debate on ITV, Mr Johnson explained: “I don’t think it’s right to drag public servants’ careers into the arena in that way.

“I thought it was most odd that the career of a particular servant should suddenly become a test case within a TV debate.”

In his resignation letter Sir Kim – who Trump branded a “pompous fool” and a “stupid guy” – said: “The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.

“Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador.”

Theresa May has been left dismayed by the resignation, telling MPs that his departure was a “matter of great regret”, adding: “The whole cabinet rightly gave its full support to Sir Kim on Tuesday.”

The Prime Minister also revealed that she had sent the ambassador a private note on Tuesday promising him her full support for him to carry on with his duties.

A string of theories have emerged since the political storm ensued. One theory says Sir Kim’s memos were deliberately leaked in order to allow the new Prime Minister to move a Brexiteer in his place.

Friends of Sir Kim said he told Mr Johnson during their phone call that the Tory front-runner’s failure to pledge his support was one of four factors that led to his resignation.

The friend said: “He told Boris that what he said during the debate was one of four factors that led to his decision to go.

“It was a factor, not the factor, but it did contribute.”

Despite this, ex-Tory PM Sir John Major piled on the pressure for Mr Johnson to U-turn and back the ambassador, saying: “He must not be thrown to the dogs.

“There comes a time when principle must come first.”

Other senior Conservative MPs joined the criticism of Mr Johnson, lambasting his conduct as “unedifying” and “contemptible”.

Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, posed the question: “If you do not support those you put into very difficult positions, what do you think is going to happen?”

Mr Johnson was however defended by supporter ex-Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who attacked Mr Hunt backers for “a shabby attempt to politicise” the resignation.

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