Tory MP survives no-confidence vote

Theresa May warned against internal rows

A Conservative MP has survived a vote of no confidence by his constituency party.

Thursday night's motion was called by North Dorset constituency party members against their MP Robert Walter.

The motion was rejected by 308 votes to 55.

Robert Walter was elected to Parliament in 1997

Mr Walter had accused a small group of former members of the UK Independence Party of engineering the vote in order to destabilise the Conservative Party.

The Conservative chairman, Theresa May, had written to the North Dorset association earlier this week saying that a "purge" of MPs for holding differing views on Europe is "not in our tradition".

Robert Walter was first elected to the Commons in 1997, after a career as a farmer and international banker.

He is seen as a moderniser in the party, pro-European, and a qualified supporter of potential British entry into the single currency.

He supported Ken Clarke's campaign for the Tory leadership and was one of the 35 MP's who abstained from last month's vote on the adoption bill.