THE Prime Minister “must not ignore” the amount of MPs who voted against her on Wednesday, according to Rayleigh and Wickford’s MP.

Mark Francois was one of 117 MPs who voted against Theresa May in the vote of no confidence that took place on Wednesday.

Mrs May secured the backing of 200 Conservative MPs out of 317. The vote was called after the Prime Minister faced criticism for her deal with the European Union for when the UK departs in March next year.

Mr Francois, who first submitted his letter of no confidence on November 16, said the number of MPs against the Prime Minister were much higher than predicted.

He said: “Most media pundits were saying we would get about 70 or 80 MPs voting against the Prime Minister. But actually, looking at the final figures, it was well into triple digits, and that is frankly a lot more than people were thinking of.

“Colleagues and I had a private prediction and were three out.

“117 colleagues of hers have voted against her, over a third of the Conservative Party, that is a pretty devastating verdict. When people reflect on that number, I actually think that will be very sobering for the Prime Minister and the cabinet.

“I think she needs to think very carefully about what to do now.”

James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East, previously announced he was voting against the Prime Minister, citing he was not happy that Mrs May had delayed parliament’s vote on the Brexit deal, which was initially due to be held on Tuesday.

He said: “Following the vote of no confidence in Theresa May a period of reflection is needed. Christmas could not come sooner.

“I respect the result both of the vote of no confidence and that of the referendum. We need to work towards a Brexit that delivers what people voted for

“We cannot put ourselves in a position where we remain in a customs union unable to do trade deals around the world.”

David Amess, MP for Southend West, has previously been highly critical of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

The UK is set to leave the European Union on March 29.