Rishi Sunak's future in No10 is at stake this weekend, with talk of replacing the Prime Minister gathering pace.
Conservative critics of Sunak are thought to believe Penny Mordaunt could save them from electoral oblivion as they eye up a leadership plot to oust the Prime Minister.
MPs from the Right of the party are claimed to have held talks about putting the current Leader of the House of Commons in charge.
Those on the moderate wing of the party are also thought to believe that the Prime Minister may not last until the general election after being left bewildered by his handling of recent political developments.
Some in the party are baffled by his speech outside No10 following the election of George Galloway, others were left disappointed by the lack of ambition in the Budget, and more were left exasperated by the failure of their leader to see Lee Anderson's defection to Reform UK coming.
A Tory source told GB News there are a “significant number” of MPs who think it would be “cleaner” to put in a caretaker PM.
Rishi Sunak is at risk of a no confidence vote with Penny Mordaunt being installed in his place
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“They could call an election and have a 100 day campaign. That way they can fight it with fresh leadership and draw a line under the chaos,” they said.
“Surely it’s easier to fight an election with a new prospect for Prime Minister, rather than an incumbent.”
Expressing their despair earlier this week, a Conservative insider told GB News of the Prime Minister: "The sad reality is he’s just not very good at politics."
Frustrated Tories are thought to have reached their limit this week, with reports that a meeting was held with Mordaunt's supporters to consider a move against Sunak.
"Some Right-wing MPs met with Team Penny this week where they expressed the view they were prepared to back her," one source told The Daily Telegraph.
"They take the view that Penny is preferable to Rishi Sunak right now."
They added: "Penny Mordaunt is now seen as the most likely person to stem the losses."
LATEST TORY CHAOS:
Rishi Sunak has been accused of poor judgement in recent weeks by MPs on all sings of the party
PADamning opinion polls point to the Conservatives facing their worst defeat in decades with fears they may lose even more seats than in the 1997 Labour landslide.
Data now points to the party polling at the same level as just days before Liz Truss was forced to resign as Prime Minister in October 2022.
Painting a gloomy picture within the party, one moderate source told the Daily Mail: 'Until very recently I thought the idea of changing leader again was ridiculous.
"But No 10's handling of some recent events has been so astonishingly bad that I think it is becoming much more likely to happen.
Penny Mordaunt's steely displace has impressed her Tory colleagues
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Penny Mordaunt finished third when she ran for leader in 2022
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"You could not have another contest and the only possible candidate I can see people uniting behind is Penny."
Mordaunt only narrowly missed out on being in the final vote put to party members to replace Boris Johnson in 2022, after finishing third behind Sunak and Truss.
Since then she has continued to gain support among colleagues, impressing MPs with her steely attitude in the House of Commons and her personal profile.
A poll of Conservative voters published on Thursday suggested she was the only candidate who stood a chance of boosting the party's chances of winning the election.