A Tory MP has threatened to defect to the Liberal Democrats over Brexit.
Phillip Lee, the MP for Bracknell, said he will spend the summer break considering whether to leave the Conservative party over its position on Brexit.
Boris Johnson – who has a majority of one in Parliament – could be thrown into an untenable position if he loses another seat.
The newly-appointed PM has taken a hard stance on Brexit, threatening a no deal if he isn’t able to renegotiate Theresa May’s deal by the deadline in October.
Speaking on a podcast with Tory MP Sam Gyimah, Dr Lee said: “At the moment I’m increasingly feeling politically homeless.
“The party I joined was the party of John Major and John Major, I think, is probably feeling like this judging by his contributions in recent weeks.
“I’m really not comfortable about my party pushing for no-deal Brexit without proper consent of the public.”
His announcement came shortly before the victory of Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election on Thursday which reduced the Tories majority to just one.
Ms Dodds won the Welsh constituency by a margin of 1,425, gaining 43 per cent of the vote as the Conservatives won 39 per cent, with the Brexit party taking 10 per cent of the vote.
Dr Lee, who supports a second referendum, said an extreme no-deal position may alienate voters and prevent the Conservatives from winning elections.
He continued: “Purely on the national interest, I think it’s wrong to do this.
“But party politically I think it’s narrowing our base in a way that I don’t see how we win elections.
“And if you don’t win elections in a democracy you don’t have power and you can’t do things you want to do.
“It’s just simple reality.
“I’m sort of sitting here, looking on and -yeah – I’m going to spend the summer thinking a lot.”
