Anna Soubry insisted her ego was not part of the reason behind the collapse of the Change UK party as she said she “doesn’t have” one. The anti-Brexit party was dealt a huge blow when, less than three months after its creation, six of the eleven members announced plans to return to the independent benches in the Commons. Asked whether “ego” had been at the root of the split, Ms Soubry told Channel 4 News: “I don’t have an ego, I can quite assure you.

“Especially not at the age that I am, I can assure you of that.

“It’s about putting your country first, it’s about being courageous and it’s about standing up and tackling the big issues that this country faces – notably Brexit and others.”

Former Labour MP Chuka Umunna and former Tory MP Heidi Allen announced on Tuesday they would quit Change UK to have more flexibility and to “work cross-party”.

The official party’s spokesman and the interim leader had been advocating for Change UK to work closely with the Liberal Democrats in the run-up to the May European elections. The new party secured no MEPs and polled at 3.4 percent.

Ms Soubry claimed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats would not have been possible but conceded the remnants of Change UK would work together.

She continued: “I work with the Lib Dems, it’s a myth that has somehow erupted that I don’t work with the Lib Dems.

“I worked in Government with the Liberal Democrats. I hugely respect people like Ed Davey, Jo Swinson and Vince Cable.

“We have our differences but what unites us are our views on Brexit and it has always been like that.”

In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the six withdrawing members of Change UK said: “We believe that our priority right now must be to provide collegiate leadership to bring people together in the national interest.

“We know the landscape will continue to shift within the political environment and have concluded that by returning to sit as independents, we will be best placed to work cross-party and respond flexibly.

“We wish our colleagues well as they continue to build Change UK.”

Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Dr Sarah Wollaston and Angela Smith joined Chuka Umunna and Heidi Allen on the independent benches. 

Change UK has several local council members but has no formal representation on a local level.

In the European elections, Change UK candidates included Rachel Johnson, sister of Boris and Jo, former Conservative MPs Stephen Dorrell and Neil Carmichael, former Labour MEP Carole Tongue, former Labour MPs Roger Casale and Jon Owen Jones, former Lib Dem MEP Diana Wallis as well as Jacek Rostowski, who served as Polish deputy Prime Minister under Donald Tusk.

During the electoral campaign, Ms Johnson criticised the lack of a formal leadership structure and describe the name of the party as “terrible”.

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