Cambs MP predicts PM has only six months in office

The Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, Heidi Allen, has hit out at the Prime Minister after the party lost its parliamentary majority in the General Election and says Theresa May is "not the leader that we need."

Heidi Allen's majority was cut in Thursday's election as her seat saw a 4.5% swing to Labour.

Speaking on LBC radio, she hit out at the PM's co-chiefs of staff, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy as she predicted Mrs May had a maximum of six months left in Downing Street.

Heidi Allen, who was first elected in South Cambridgeshire in 2015 after former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley stepped down, when on to say: "The voters are our customers. Clearly we got our product wrong which tells me that the sales team have got it wrong as well."

Former Conservative leader Lord Hague said "very serious lessons" had to be learned by the party but warned against a leadership contest.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said: "An overwhelmingly strong position at the time of the local elections on May 4 was turned into serious losses by June 8.

"The awful truth is that no party has given up such an advantageous situation with such speed in the modern electoral history of our country. Very serious lessons will have to be learnt from that."

Other Conservative MPs from the Anglia region have added to the debate over the aftermath of the election on social media.

The Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman, who was chairman of the Prime Minister's policy board which was influential in drawing up the ill-fated Conservative manifesto said on Twitter: "Last night the people spoke. We have to show we have listened, heard and form a new Government that reflects their wishes."

The long-serving Bedfordshire MP Alistair Burt said there should be a cross-party approach to the negotiations to leave the European Union.

Mr Burt tweeted: "We argued Referendum cross party - why not the aftermath? That would be a true national endeavour.