Tory grandee Michael Heseltine has said for the first time he will not be supporting Conservatives in the European election - and will instead vote the Liberal Democrats .
The former deputy prime minister said the party was 'infected by a virus' and risked 'descending deeper into the darkness' based on its position on Brexit .
Writing for The Sunday Times, Lord Heseltine described the Tories as 'myopically focused on forcing through biggest act of economic self-harm ever government'.
He said he has made it clear that he will not vote for the Conservatives but he will, however, still be voting for someone he regards as a 'Conservative'.
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Lord Heseltine, who lives in Northamptonshire, considers Bill Newton Dunn as a top candidate among the list of Liberal Democrats that he is happy to lend his support.
But he still cares for his party and said he knows his fellow Conservatives too well not to see the danger signs in how they will react to what will inevitably be disastrous results in these elections.
Lord Heseltine and former prime minster Sir John Major pleaded for a return to the centre ground after the party faces a historic loss this week with polls putting the Brexit party on course for victory.
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Boris Johnson is said to be the runaway favourite to succeed Theresa May in the leadership contest expected next month.
Major told the paper that the need for an inclusive Tory party was 'greater than ever' and warned: "The middle ground of politics is empty."
He said the one-nation Conservatism 'gave me a home in politics' and 'made it possible for me to move from rented rooms in Brixton to a life, which, as a boy, I could have only ever imagined'.
