Former MP quits Tory party saying 'it's dead'

Marcus Fysh said a new party needed to be "centre & centre right"

A former Tory MP who lost his seat in the general election says he has quit the party because "it's dead".

Marcus Fysh was Yeovil's MP but lost heavily to Adam Dance from the Liberal Democrats.

On X, the former minister said the current parliamentary composition of the party was "non-Conservative".

But, he denied he was going to join Reform. Answering a question to another user, he said a new party would need to be "centre & centre right, sensible small c Conservative appealing to the whole country".

Mr Fysh said the current make-up of the party meant there was "no chance of ever being electable again".

"Move on. Let's do something else," he added.

On Thursday, Mr Fysh lost more than 34% of his majority with the Lib Dems gaining 17% to win the south Somerset seat.

Reform gained 17%.

Mr Fysh has been the MP for Yeovil since 2015.

Yeovil was one of a number of seats to turn yellow on the night in Somerset.

The only remaining Tory seat there is Bridgwater.

Nationally, the Conservatives had a disastrous night, losing 251 seats and ending with just 121, compared to 412 for Labour.