IT’S not clear exactly who the Chancellor had in mind on Wednesday morning when he said the confidence vote in Theresa May would “flush out the extremists.” But you could probably put a bit of money on Richard Drax, Conor Burns and Sir Christopher Chope being on the list.

In fact South Dorset MP Drax acknowledged to the Echo yesterday it was “extraordinary” to be labelled an extremist for “daring to honour the results of the referendum.”

But the position of all three Euro sceptics is well known. Mr Burns’ closest ally is Boris Johnson who kept his powder dry yesterday. Sir Chris is a close political colleague of Jacob Rees-Mogg who was the first to call for Theresa May to resign after the vote on Wednesday.

“I have had a large number of calls from people wanting to know his position but I have not been able to tell them as I have not spoken to him,” said Christchurch constituency chairman, Cllr Ray Bryan.

He added: “My message to all Dorset MPs is to do everything they can to avoid a general election. If there was one we would have a really tough time. It is clear that public are tired of all this.

“It’s about time our MPs were open about what they will accept as far as the deal is concerned, not just keep talking about what they won’t accept.”

Mr Drax said: “The way I which I voted is confidential but my views have remained consistent.

“It is not a question of supporting the Prime Minister, this is not about her. This is about securing and honouring the referendum. I do not believe this is something the Prime Minister has done or is doing.

“She probably can’t do it because clearly her stance has always been to remain as close to the EU as possible. Until we have someone in charge who is going to honour it we will continue to have division and problems.”

Sir Christopher told the Echo: “I do not have any confidence in the Prime Minister. I don’t think anyone should be in any doubt about the way I voted. What people want is for Brexit to be delivered and people are very worried that the Prime Minister is not going to deliver it.

“I am not going to say whether I sent a letter to Sir Graham Brady or not. The fact that 117 people have expressed they have no confidence in her says it all. People should have forced this issue earlier. If one believes in miracles at Christmas I would like to see the EU recognise that we do not need an Irish backstop and remove it from the deal.”

Mr Burns said: “I am pleased that the leadership issue is now resolved for the next year and the Prime Minister has said she will listen. Like all elections the result should be respected. All MPs must now work together to put this difficult period behind us. All colleagues – the Chancellor included – should be very careful in the language they use about each other.

"For me it has always been about the policy not about personality and I will continue to work to ensure that the deal the Prime Minister comes back with will not trap the UK for decades to come.”