Tories 'ditching plan to axe 50 MPs'

Tory plans to cut the number of MPs by 50 are to be abandoned, according to reports.

The manifesto pledge to reduce the tally of MPs to 600 will be dropped because Prime Minister Theresa May lost the Conservative majority in the general election, The Times said.

The reform was intended to save £50 million over five years and equalise the number of voters in each constituency.

But concern about getting a Commons majority for the move, which would mean a wide-ranging redrawing of constituency boundaries, has led to the change of direction, according to the report.

Mrs May has already dropped plans to push through social care funding changes dubbed the "dementia tax", and an expansion of grammar schools, since the general election.