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A Conservative MP walked off from a live TV broadcast today because he could not bear to speak to an enemy colleague from within his own party.

In further signs of Tory division, hard-line Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen refused to engage with party deputy chair James Cleverly on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Show.

It came after Wednesday’s announcement that 48 letters of no confidence had been submitted to the 1922 Committee, triggering a leadership ballot in Theresa May.

Anti-EU MP Mr Bridgen told the presenter how he submitted his letter of no confidence in Mrs May in July, during the row over her Chequers plan for Brexit.

After Mr Bridgen had said his piece about Mrs May “drowning” and the party having the “last chance to save Brexit”, Ms Derbyshire invited Mr Cleverly, a pro-May MP, to speak.

Ms Derbyshire said: “I gather you don’t necessarily want to talk to each other…”

Mr Cleverly appeared to suggest he would speak to Mr Bridgen, leading the presenter to ask him: “Are you happy too?”

After an agonisingly awkward silence, North West Leicestershire MP Mr Bridgen stuttered: “I’ll go, that’s fine, thank you.”

He then ducked out of the broadcast, refusing to make eye contact with Braintree MP Mr Cleverly as he made his exit.

Ms Derbyshire’s mischievous first question followed: “How do you regard colleagues like Andrew Bridgen?”

Mr Cleverly insisted: “I’ve known Andrew for many years, I like him a lot.” But he accused him of “jeopardising Brexit”.