Anti-EU right wing has taken over UK Conservative Party: Soubry

Britain's ruling Conservative Party has been taken over by right-wing, anti-EU lawmakers who will force out more moderate colleagues, Member of Parliament Anna Soubry said after she left the party on Wednesday.

Soubry, along with colleagues Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston, left the Conservative Party to join an independent grouping of former Labour lawmakers in parliament.

"The truth is, the battle is over and the other side has won. The right-wing, the hard-line anti-EU awkward squad that have destroyed every leader for the last 40 years are now running the Conservative Party from top to toe," Soubry told reporters.

Soubry said most local Conservative Party associations had been infiltrated by anti-EU activists and that she hoped other Conservative lawmakers would join her in leaving the party.