JESSE Norman has lifted the lid on his "surprise" exit from the Government, saying he could have stayed on but PM Boris Johnson wanted more diversity among ministers.

The south Herefordshire MP and Old Etonian said the PM told him face-to-face he was keen to see wider representation in the Government, and as someone who supports "squad rotation" he was "happy" to accept the offer to stand down.

Mr Norman, whose wife is former vaccine czar Kate Bingham, admitted he was "surprised" by his exit from the role of Financial Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet reshuffle, but didn’t want to stay on and have to be "forklifted out" later on.

In an interview with Tom Newton Dunn on Times Radio, the local MP admitted of his departure: "I was surprised because we had been a very active and energetic team in the Treasury and I have been pretty heavily engaged myself.

"I had literally just done the Social Care Levy about 36 hours earlier and that’s a pretty landmark piece of legislation, and we literally just that morning had gone up to the UK Infrastructure Bank I’d been leading on within the Treasury to say goodbye to the interim chief executive who had done a great job, so I was surprised but those are the breaks in politicsâ?¦

"His (the PM’s) team said would I come in to his office and talk to himâ?¦ we had a conversation in which he actually gave me the choice of staying on, but said that he was looking to improve the diversity and representation within the government.

"He was very kind about what I had done and was that something I could help him with?

"I thought about it and we talked about it and different aspects of it and I realised that we had done an enormous amount.

"The truth of the matter is I’ve done eight primary pieces of legislation, the furlough scheme the last couple of years. That’s probably more legislation than many departments do.

"We had not been short of things in my office and I had not been anything other than tied up and busy, and of course we had HMRC which is a large department, one of the biggest across government, and were also very closely and intimately involved in support for the economy and people during the pandemic.

"So I had a pretty intensive two years and I thought, do you know what, I actually believe in what the PM is trying to do with improving representation and diversity and I don’t want to stay in and be one of those ministers who then has to be forklifted out later on."

He admitted that while "not delighted" to be going, he was "at least happy to step down".

"I’ve got plenty of other things to be getting on with, and public service to me has never been just about office - office is a means to do good things and make change, so that seemed to fit together quite well," he added.

Asked whether he was in the rare position of having sacked himself, Mr Norman laughed and said: "I don’t know about that, but it’s possible to have a conversation where you really identify.

"I’ve supported the PM in different waysâ?¦ for a long time, so we ought to have a proper conversation about what he was trying to do with the government, and as I say I rather supported (it)."

He said he recalled telling one of David Cameron’s advisers, when he was PM: "I think governments should think about squad rotation because it’s actually a good thing to get ministers into government to get them some experience."

He said it made sense that a PM might want to use former ministers and "redeploy them in the same way Pep Guardiola" might rotate his players.

Asked if he might be making way for someone less experienced and capable, he added: "I think there are a whole load of considerations raised by that, but in general I am rather pro-change."

And looking ahead, he said: "I might be cutting my own head off now or in the future, (but) I think I’ve got more to give to this government and future governments.

"I wouldn’t draw the line there for a secondâ?¦. but I do think that the principle which says that when you’ve had a really good run in Government, and I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve had five years - I did all this offshore wind, all the stuff on electric vehicles and now the Treasury - I feel I’ve had a pretty good run.

"It’s not like we haven’t done some really good stuff. I do think it’s a good idea to refresh and change things."

Pushed on why other elbowed-out ministers might feel differently about how they had been treated, he added: "I know my colleagues will feel differently about this.

"I perfectly respect and understand that, but for me it was OK."