Ex-MP having sour grapes for quitting Tories - MP

Sir Geoffrey called said Mr Fysh had a case of "sour grapes" for quitting the Conservatives

A Conservative MP has said Marcus Fysh is having a case of "sour grapes" for resigning from the party.

Marcus Fysh was Yeovil's MP but lost to Liberal Democrat candidate Adam Dance.

On Saturday, he said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was resigning from the Conservatives and called the party "dead".

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative MP for the North Cotswolds, said Mr Fysh would not have said that had he won.

Mr Fysh said the Conservative Party was "dead"

On BBC West Politics, Sir Geoffrey said: "With great respect to Marcus, and I'm sorry that he lost, I think he's [having] sour grapes. I don't think he would have said that had he won."

Mr Fysh said the comment had been his "sober analysis".

Mr Fysh told BBC West: "I'm afraid we need to face reality.

"If a Conservative Party isn't going to be a conservative party, it loses its reason to exist."

He said the party had to move into a broad centre right position "to be able to win in the future."

Responding to Mr Fysh's tweet, former Conservative MP Nicholas Soames called him an "idiot".

But Mr Fysh said Mr Soames was "part of the problem".

Mr Fysh: "The majority of the party is made up of that wet [Brexit] remainer element, which isn't going to occupy the centre right."

The Green Party's Carla Denyer, the new MP for Bristol Central, said: "There isn't a side of the Conservative Party that I'm on the side of, as you might not be surprised to learn.

"But I think the attitude of blaming each other probably is an indication of why many voters have had enough of the Conservatives."