A Tory MP said he has lost four inches from his waistline because of the stress of Brexit.

Huw Merriman, who represents Bexhill and Battle and is the parliamentary private secretary to Philip Hammond, also cited “abuse” from his constituents as one of the causes of the weight loss.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’ve lost a lot of weight. I’ve gone from over a 34 to almost under a 30 now, and that’s purely down to what’s going on.”

Mr Merriman, who backed a confirmatory referendum on the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal in indicative votes on Monday night, said: “Today I’m getting a heck of a lot of abuse because of the way I voted yesterday, even though I tried to explain the way I voted.

“I’m betraying Brexit, I’m the Chancellor’s tea-lady according to Leave.EU who are trying to get me deselected.

“And you try your best for your constituents …. and then you get this vile abuse. And someone off the back of the tea-lady shout was talking about (how) those involved in treason used to be taken outside and lined up and shot, now they’re just paid vast salaries … So it does have an impact on us.”

He said he had started seeing a counsellor because he realised he needed to get “proper control in my life”.

“If I can recognise it and try and do something about it, then hopefully other people listening can do so where they think ‘oh no I’m just a pull-yourself-together merchant’ because that’s always how I’ve been.

“So I’ve decided that I need to make sure that I’m properly looked after and that we look after our mental health.”

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