Former Tory MP quits 'unelectable' party after losing seat
8 July 2024, 06:09
A former Tory MP who lost his seat in the General Election has quit the party warning it has 'no chance of ever being electable again'.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Marcus Fysh had been MP for Yeovil since 2015 but lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats on Thursday.
Mr Fysh resigned on Saturday evening, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "I hereby resign from the Conservatives.
"It's dead. No chance of ever being electable again with its current non-Conservative Parliamentary composition.
"Move on . Let's do something else."
In a separate post, Mr Fysh added that the "Conservative Party is no longer a thing. RIP."
And asked whether he was contemplating a move to Reform UK, My Fysh responded: "No. [We] need to be irreproachably centre and centre-Right, sensible, small-c conservative appealing to the whole country."
It comes after Labour came to power with a landslide in Thursday's election, securing 412 seats and reducing the Conservative share to only 121 seats.
It is the largest majority government in 25 years.
Mr Fysh was one of several former Tory MPs who lost their seats in Thursday's election, including several senior party figures.
Among them were former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt.
Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Chief Whip Simon Hart, Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, former Environment Secretary Therese Coffey and former Brexit Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg also lost their seats.
