Liz Truss has been given just twelve hours to save her premiership, following chaotic scenes in Westminster that left the government on the brink of collapse.
Senior Tory MP Simon Hoare said Thursday and Friday were “crunch days” for the prime minister.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, the chair of the Commons Northern Ireland committee said there was “pessimism” across the party.
Asked if Truss was”up to the job”, he could only say: “I think she could be.
“If this was a career review, an employer sitting in front of a person looking at performance and outcomes, then the score sheet isn’t looking very good.
“Can the ship be turned around? Yes. But I think there’s about 12 hours to do it. I think today and tomorrow are crunch days.”
It came as Crispin Blunt, the Tory MP for Reigate who on Sunday became the first to publicly demand Truss resign, also told the BBC that Truss should quit “today”.
He said the prime minister’s position was now “wholly untenable” and she should be replaced with either Jeremy Hunt or Rishi Sunak.
“It ought to have been clear she did not have the capacity to lead our party and I don’t think she should have put herself up for the leadership in the first place,” he said.
A chaotic day on Wednesday saw the acrimonious resignation of the home secretary, mayhem in the Commons over a fracking vote, and confusion over whether the chief and deputy chief whip had quit.
Suella Braverman lashed out at Truss’s “tumultuous” premiership as she resigned and accused the government of “breaking key pledges”.
Her exit, coming just five days after Kwasi Kwarteng’s sacking as chancellor, means the PM has lost two people from the four great offices of state within her first six weeks in No 10.
All eyes are now on whether other cabinet ministers could follow Braverman out the door.