THE leader of the Conservative-led Braintree Council had hinted he may not vote for his own party at the upcoming General Election.

Graham Butland, who has been a Tory member for 57 years, says he remains hopeful he can be convinced to support his party despite raising concerns about the loyalty of some Essex MPs in a cryptic message on social media.

Mr Butland, 71, singled out Witham MP and Home Secretary Priti Patel, as well as Harwich MP Bernard Jenkin, as examples of Conservatives who had failed to stay faithful to previous Prime Minister Theresa May during her time in Number 10.

The duo were part of a group of Tory MPs who rebelled against the Government and voted down Mrs May's Brexit deal.

Mr Butland tweeted: "Should I follow the example of Essex MPs Priti Patel, Bernard Jenkin, James Duddridge, Mark Francois and John Baron and use my vote to give the same level of support and loyalty to Boris Johnson as they used theirs to support Mrs May? #dilemma."

Mr Butland has since clarified his stance by insisting he won't vote for any other party on December 12.

He says the upcoming election will not be one "like any other" and insists he isn't the only politician facing a dilemma at the polls.

"It’s not just those in the Conservative party. There are Labour party members who equally have dilemmas.” he added.

"I always look forward to general elections. This is different and I don’t think I’m the only one."

"The difficulty is that I am not on the extremes of anything and those of us who are not on the extremes of anything are desperately looking for something that is going to be closest to where we sit.

“The Conservative Party has always been a pragmatic party. We have never been a hard party with political dogma. I am hoping that during the course of this election I will see that pragmatism coming through.

"I very much hope that between now and December 12 I will hear sufficient from the Prime Minister to make me want to go and support him.”

Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly will be standing for re-election as Braintree MP. He will be up against Labour's Joshua Garfield, Lib Dem Dom Graham, Samuel Cowie from the Brexit Party and Independent Jo Beavis.