Defector MP Heidi Allen has suggested she wants to destroy the Tory Party she was a member of until this morning.

Allen said that if a new party formed out of The Independent Group is successful, then “there won’t be a Tory Party to go back to”.

She also said former ministers Phillip Lee and Justine Greening could “probably, possible, maybe” soon follow her, Sarah Wollaston and Anna Soubry by quitting the party and joining the centrist group, which already has eight formerly Labour MPs.

Asked if she could ever go back to the Conservatives, Allen told reporters at a Westminster briefing: “I can’t imagine it, I just can’t.

“Not least because if we do our jobs right here won’t be a Tory Party to go back to.

“We are about creating something better that is bang smack in the centre ground of British politics, that people out there I am convinced, we are convinced, want.

“This is about the future, this is not about going back.”

Meanwhile, as speculation swirled around Westminster that fellow People’s Vote supporter Lee could soon join the group, Allen was asked whether she expected him to quit the Tories in the coming days.

She replied: “(That is) very particular.

“What about Justine (Greening), what about everybody else?

“I don’t know – probably, possibly, maybe.

“But for every colleague that joins us regardless of which party they come from this has to be looking in the mirror – is now the right time, how do I feel about it?

“Some will want to see how we evolve.

“Everybody gets here at a different point, different triggers, final straws.
“I am hopeful that good sensible centre ground\ colleagues like Phillip, like Justine will come and join us.

“But.. the last thing I want to do is bully people, this has to be a choice people really take seriously and decide what’s best for them and the country.”