would this mean the master cylinder is leaking and needs to be replaced?

seals are gone in either clutch or brake master cylinder.
Which type of cylinders do you have? Best to find the one leaking, remove, and take to a brake shop and have re-sleeved with a nice stainless steel sleeve and a new kit and will be good as gold for years to come.

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Mini, its in my blood........

yeah its the brake one, plastic reservoir type , thats about as much as i know.

thats 2 i've tried as well, the first one was 'supposedly' brand new but didnt pump any fluid at all.

this mini is a real pain in the ass atm

stick in there

It might not be the seals - I recently replaced my brake mc and later found fluid in the footwell.

It turned out that I had just spilt some fluid around the master cylinder when I was attaching the lines, and the fluid had soaked through the old gasket at the base of the mc. Replaced the gasket and all is well.

If your first one was brand new, it could potentially have been sitting on a shelf for 20 years and the seals decayed. Best to bench bleed and test a MC before you fit it, in my opinion.

Hope you get it sorted out quickly - I've been having issues with my brakes for months now. I've almost completely replaced or reconditioned everything...