Prime Minister Theresa May called on Consevative Party activists not to deselect MPs over differences on Brexit – just days after members of the Totnes constituency branch called a special meeting to oust Sarah Wollaston.

A petition calling for Dr Wollaston’s deselection was passed to constituency branch chairman on Monday afternoon last week.

Hours later, a copy of the covering letter of the internal branch notice was passed to Brexit campaign group Leave.EU and then forwarded to this newspaper by its spokesman Andy Wigmore..

Leave.EU, which had been calling for Conservative Party constituencies to deselect pro-Remain MPs, claimed a victory.

On its Facebook page, Leave.EU said: “The first stage of deselection is complete in Totnes as Sarah Wollaston’s constituents fight back over her Brexit betrayal.

“Thanks to our campaign these Remoaners are getting their comeuppance.”

But on Saturday, at the National Conservative Convention in Oxford, Mrs May told delegates: “No one gets more frustrated than I do when people vote against the Whip, particularly given the tight Parliamentary arithmetic that we face.

“But we are not a party of purges and retribution.

“We called a referendum and let people express their views – so we should not be seeking to deselect any of our MPs because of their views on Brexit.”

Dr Wollaston and two colleagues, Anna Soubry and Heidi Allen, had quit the party last Wednesday, before Mrs May’s call to members.

They have aligned themselves with The Independent Group of 11 MPs – and are calling for a People’s Vote on Brexit.

In a joint resignation letter, they said: “Brexit has redefined the Conservative Party – undoing all the efforts to modernise it. There has been a dismal failure to stand up to the hardline ERG which operates openly as a party within a party, publicly and privately funded, with its own leader, whip and policy.

“The shift to the right has been exaggerated by blatant entryism. Not only has this been tolerated, it has been actively welcomed in some quarters. A purple momentum is subsuming the Conservative Party, much as the hard left has been allowed to consume and terminally undermine the Labour Party.”

This week, Dr Wollaston said: "Leave.EU have been running an aggressive and well-funded campaign against me and a number of MPs who voted remain, specifically asking their supporters to join associations to deselect sitting MPs.

"Their specific letter and its timing had no bearing on my decision to resign, the reasons for which were set out in my letter to the Prime Minister and to my constituents but the influx of BLUKIP is in my view changing the nature of Conservative associations.

"As Labour under the influence of Momentum has moved to a left-wing fringe, the Conservative Party seems to be following suit to the right.

"Both have abandoned the moderate centre ground, leaving millions of people feeling that no major party represents them."

But James Heaven, of one to co-signatories of the letter calling for a meeting to deselect Dr Wollaston, said it was “nonsense” to suggest the Tory Party was being taken over by extremists.

Yet, Leave.EU spokesman Mr Wigmore claimed last week: “So far across the UK we have recruited over 27,000 new Tory members through the Leave.EU campaign.”

This week, when questioned specificallly about the Totnes constituency, he said: “In Totnes, we had over 100 Conservative members, both new and old, contact us to express their outrage at Sarah Wollaston’s position on Brexit. Our deselection campaign facilitated the signing of a 50-strong petition calling for a no-confidence vote in Sarah.”

Ceri Jayes, chairman of the Totnes branch of UKIP, said that last October she knew of five constituents who had joined the Conservative Party, plus one person who had his application turned down.

“It is likely that more have joined since then,” she added.

As this paper reported last week, Ian Phillips, the other co-signatory alongside James Heaven to the covering letter calling for a meeting to deselect Dr Wollaston, was until 2017 a UKIP member, nominating that party’s candidate for the general election in June of that year.

There has been a mixed local response to Dr Wollaston’s decision to resign from the Conservative Party.

John Smith, chairman of the Totnes Constituency Conservative Association, said: “We are saddened that Sarah Wollaston has come to this decision. It is a matter of regret that she has not been able to reconcile her views on Brexit with Conservative Party policy to deliver on the result of the referendum.

“We pay tribute to her work as a constituency MP since her election in 2010. She has worked hard for our local communities and made her mark in Parliament as a backbench MP and chairman of the Health Select Committee.”

Addressing the issue of entryism, he added: “Membership of Totnes Constituency Conservative Association is open to those who support the values and objectives of the Conservative Party. We have a process in place to approve members who apply to join, or to reject those who do not share the party’s aims.”

County and district Conservative councillor for Dartmouth Jonathan Hawkins posted on Dr Wollaston’s Facebook page: “You have worked tirelessly on behalf of your residents and communities, it has been a pleasure to work with you and I am saddened that you have had to make this decision.

“We are very lucky to have you as our MP.”

Political opponents also backed Dr Wollaston.

District and county councillor Julian Brazil, who stood for the Liberal Democrats against Dr Wollaston at the 2017 general election, said: “Sarah has always struck me as a woman of principle.

“She was selected by an open primary – the Totnes constituency chose an independent-minded candidate rather than a party apparatchik.

“The tribal nature of British politics has not served this country well. I welcome any attempt to break the political mould – it can’t be any worse than it is now.”

Jacqi Hodgson, a Green Party county and district councillor, who also stood against Dr Wollaston at the last general election, said: “I respect Sarah Wollaston’s decision to leave the Conservative Party and find it gratifying that she has done this to support the democratic call for a second referendum or People’s Vote on Brexit.  

“She has taken a huge personal risk in stepping away from her party’s position to support a Brexit that may or may not have an agreed deal with Europe on departure.”

Lynn Alderson, chairman of Totnes and South Devon Constituency Labour Party, called for a by-election, and added: “We agree that Theresa May has bungled Brexit and taken the country close to disaster with her stubborn insistence on red lines, and her failure to create a cooperative solution.”

Cllr John Birch, Liberal Democrat district councillor for Totnes, said: “Dr Wollaston’s departure from the Conservative Party comes as no surprise to those who have been following the attacks on her through your papers’ letters pages and social media.

“It seems as though the Conservative Party has reverted, once again, to being the ‘nasty’ party as a result of infiltration by former UKIP members and right-wingers.

“This is happening locally with UKIP members joining the Totnes Conservatives and then organising moves to deselect Dr Sarah Wollaston. This is evidenced by local Conservative members distributing Brexit leaflets with UKIP members.”

The Totnes constituency covers part of Torbay, including Brixham, and there Torbay Conservative councillor Chris Robson, of Blatchcombe ward, said: “I am saddened by her decision but beyond that I have no further comment to make.”

But Conservative Cllr Richard Haddock, of St Mary’s with Summercombe ward on Torbay Council, who sits as an independent after recently resigning the party whip, said people in Brixham felt badly let down by Dr Wollaston over the Brexit debate. “People are angry,” he added.