Mark Reckless: Conservatives cannot win majority

The decision to go into coalition combined, with the Government's policies means the Tories stand no chance of an overall majority at next year's general election, Ukip defector Mark Reckless has said.

Speaking at the eurosceptic Bruges Group this morning, Mr Reckless said he had not thought a Conservative victory was a "serious prospect" since David Cameron went into coalition with Nick Clegg.

"That is largely because that decision led to unity on the left and a significant increase in the Labour vote due to departing Lib Dems," he argued.

He also hit out at Mr Cameron's leadership, saying: "How David Cameron and the Conservative-led government have governed over the last four and a half years has also tended, to put it mildly, to reduce the prospects of the Conservative Party being successfully returned at the next election."

However, he said the impact of Ukip's surge on Tory-held seats would be "small if any", whereas Ukip "can actually win seats in Labour areas from people who would never dream of voting Conservative.

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