Tim Farron has described himself as a “bit of a Eurosceptic” in a bid to win pro-Brexit voters in the former Liberal Democrat heartlands in the South West of England.

The admission will have raised eyebrows because the LibDems are fighting the election on an avowedly pro-EU ticket and have pledged to hold a second European Union referendum.

Mr Farron told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 that he had “resigned from the Liberal Democrat frontbench about ten years ago because I am a bit of a Eurosceptic.”

This was evidence that he was “somebody who challenges people in power”, he said.

He added: “But I’m somebody who believes that Britain is better off in the European Union and what the South West is famous for is wanting to be able to be self-governing, to be independent, to be different from those in Westminster who tell them what to do.

“And the worst thing for the West Country is to be a blanket of blue where the Tories just take you for granted.

“And that’s the thing I think people around the country are beginning to realise. That a Conservative majority is now not in question, but a Conservative landslide means they will take you for granted wherever you live.”