Anna Soubry: Senior Tory MP savages Theresa May and 'dreadful' campaign on live TV

PM should 'consider her position', Soubry tells the BBC

With the Conservatives on course to win only around 320 seats in the general election - a failure by any measure, though they will remain the largest single party - questions are turning to Theresa May's future.

The Prime Minister refused to respond when, as she arrived at the declaration of her own seat in Maidenhead, she was asked: "Are you going to resign?"

Anna Soubry was one of many Conservative MPs who faced a tight race in Thursday's vote. Labour sources were briefing journalists early on in the count that they thought she might lose it.

In the end, Ms Soubry took her seat of Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire with almost 26,000 votes, a majority of just 863 ahead of Labour's Greg Marshall, way down from her 2015 majority of 4,287.

Speaking on the BBC News channel shortly afterwards, Ms Soubry said Theresa May should "consider her position".

"It was a dreadful campaign," Ms Soubry said. When asked to explain what she meant by that, she added: "Well, where do you want me to begin?"

The MP said the party "actually had some very good policies", but criticised the "appalling" way they were presented and the "deeply flawed" U-turn on social care costs.

She also criticised "the way the campaign was being run. It was about her and what she wanted to do, and she absolutely put her mark on this campaign."

Asked if Ms May should stay on as Prime Minister, Ms Soubry said: "That is a matter for her... It's bad.

"She is in a very difficult place. She is a remarkable and very talented woman and she doesn't shy from difficult decisions, but she now has to, obviously, consider her position."