Michael Portillo

Michael Portillo has called on Tory chairman Theresa May to resign following claims that the party leadership had briefed against her.

The former defence secretary said that the party was narrowing its appeal and warned that the chairman's job was now impossible.

"Her position seems to be impossible," Portillo told the World at One.

"She's been briefed against, changes have been made to the party that she ought to have been consulted about that she wasn't consulted about. It looks very bad."

He said the decision to replace Macgregor as chief executive with the former MP Legg was a mistake.

"You do not look tall if you surround yourself by short grasses," he added.

The party, he said, was reducing its appeal to would-be Tory voters.

"What I see is a narrowing of the party and that of course is worrying," he said.

Portillo's move came as it was claimed that two Conservative MPs are on the verge of defecting to the Liberal Democrats.

A senior Lib Dem said the two MPs' "minds are changed" and will switch sides once family and friends have been consulted.

Lib Dem chairman Mark Oaten claims his party has been in talks with two MPs ready to jump ship.

He says the two backbenchers, who fear their seats will be lost under the current leadership, have "profoundly honest objections about where the Tory party is going".