THE chief executive of Kensington and Chelsea council has quit after a barrage of criticism for its response to the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.

Nicholas Holgate said the Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid, who is also the MP for Bromsgrove, “required the leader of the council to seek my resignation” on Tuesday.

He added in a statement that he would have been a “distraction” if he had stayed in his post after the “heart-breaking tragedy”, which left at least 79 feared dead.

Mr Holgate said: “Serving the families so desperately affected by the heart-breaking tragedy at Grenfell Tower remains the highest priority of the council.”

He said there is a “huge amount” still to do for the victims “in very challenging circumstances” and added: “If I stayed in post, my presence would be a distraction.”

Council leader Nicholas Paget-Brown said he accepted the resignation “with great regret” and added that “the council will now need to work in a new way with different partners to take this forward”.

There has been a lot of anger over the official response to the deadly blaze from survivors and victims’ families.

Theresa May has apologised for the failures by local and national government in reacting to the tragedy and will address the Commons on Thursday.

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