A Tory former minister has broken ranks to call for Liz Truss to resign - saying the "game is up" for the crisis-hit Prime Minister.
Veteran backbencher Crispin Blunt said he didn't think Ms Truss could survive the current crisis, which has left her authority in tatters after only five weeks in the job.
The PM is fighting for her political life after sacking her Chancellor and tearing up key parts of her tax-cutting agenda to calm the economic turmoil.
While Ms Truss is safe from a leadership challenge for 12 months under party rules, mutinous Tories are openly plotting to oust her.
Asked if she could cling on, Mr Blunt told Channel 4's Andrew Neil Show: "No, I think the game is up and it's now a question as to how the succession is managed."
The Reigate MP said: "If there is such a weight of opinion in the parliamentary party that we have to have a change, then it will be affected.
"Exactly how it is done and exactly under what mechanism... but it will happen."
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told the Telegraph that his party "cannot carry on like this'', telling the Telegraph: "Our country, its people and our party deserve better.''
Conservative Jamie Wallis also confirmed that he had written to Ms Truss, asking her to stand down.
Tory former chancellor George Osborne said that Ms Truss will likely be gone "before Christmas".
Asked if Ms Truss can survive, he said: "Probably not. She is 'pino' - Prime Minister in name only at the moment.
"And I would think the most likely outcome is that she falls before Christmas."
But he said "things are unpredictable" and said it was possible she "completely resets" - albeit saying that was a "long shot".
Tory Education Committee chairman Robert Halfon stopped short of calling for the PM to quit but effectively admitted MPs are plotting.
"Of course, colleagues are unhappy with what is going on," he told Sky News.
"We're all talking to see what can be done about it."
Mr Halfon called on the PM to apologise to the British public, saying the Government was acting like "libertarian jihadists" and had "frightened" people with its economic plans.
Senior Tory Alicia Kearns said the question of whether Ms Truss should continue in charge is "incredibly difficult".
"Ultimately I need to listen to colleagues and speak to colleagues over coming days," she said.
It comes as new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt insisted Ms Truss was still "in charge" - but failed to rule out further U-turns on her plans.
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock called for a Cabinet reshuffle to extend Ms Truss's support across the party.
The former Cabinet Minister, who quit after breaching social distancing guidance by kissing a colleague, said: "There's a huge amount of talent on the backbenches - I'm not talking about me, but there are many others that should be brought into Government."
Ex-Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, a loyal follower of Boris Johnson, wrote in the Daily Express: "The sad truth is that those scheming to eject the Prime Minister from Downing Street are the same plotters who conspired to get rid of Boris.
"They will not rest until they have anointed their own chosen leader in power."
