Tory MP Andrew Tyrie has claimed his party's General Election defeat in June was the "worst" in its history.

The Chichester MP published a pamphlet today, Back From The Brink, which suggests the Tories have a huge task to win back power.

The document says support for the party fell in key areas at the June 7 election.

Mr Tyrie says that Conservative support fell in urban areas by 0.3 per cent and is falling among women.

In 1983, women's support was eight percentage points higher than men's but in 2001 it was just one percentage point higher.

Mr Tyrie, who ran Ken Clarke's unsuccessful leadership campaign in the wake of William Hague's decision to stand down, says the election "reflected a further weakening of our electoral base".

He adds: "It is crucial that we do not only rely on the swing of the pendulum.

"There is nothing inevitable about recovery. Another serious defeat beckons unless we address the causes of the last two."

He warns: "The defeat in June will come to be seen as the worst in the whole history of the Conservative Party."

Mr Tyrie lists a host of reasons why the election defeat was worse than initially thought.

These include the low turnout, which saved the party from even greater defeat because it was likely Tory supporters voted while some Labour supporters did not.

He said more Labour voters would have turned out if the election had not been such a foregone conclusion.