Dame Andrea Jenkyns called on Tory MPs to submit letters of no confidence in Rishi Sunak as she warned the party has “nothing to lose”.
The former minister insisted the Prime Minister will not lead the Conservatives to victory at the next general election.
Dame Andrea, who sent her own letter in November, urged colleagues to follow suit in a “last-ditch attempt” to turn fortunes around.
The close Boris Johnson ally told the Express: “I put in my letter in November, this has been coming a while now. He’s not going to win us an election, we’re walking into a Labour victory.
“And I fear that, the changing of the voting age, it’s going to be hard to get any form of Conservative government in office again when they do stuff like that.
“I think he’s not going to win us an election, wake up and smell the coffee, let’s get a new leader, last-ditch attempt because we’ve got nothing to lose now.
“It’s been a difficult few years and some people are saying we can’t have yet another change in party leader. Obviously we shouldn’t have got rid of the others in the first place. However, we are where we are.
“Under Rishi Sunak we cannot win a majority, lots of people are going to lose their seats across the country even in safe Conservative seats.
“So the simple message is if we want to stop the socialists getting in and the likes of Starmer who twice backed Corbyn to get into Number 10 let’s get a new leader. That’s the only way to save our party and save our country.”
Dame Andrea’s comments come after dire polling suggested the Tories could be on course for a 1997-style wipeout at the next general election.
The YouGov survey of 14,000 people, reported by The Telegraph, indicated that Mr Sunak’s party could be down to just 169 seats, with Sir Keir Starmer entering Downing Street with 385.
But the Prime Minister, who is facing deep divisions within his party as the Rwanda Bill returns to the Commons this week, insisted the only poll that matters “is the one when the general election comes”.
He said: “There have been lots of polls over the last year, there will be hundreds more polls.
“The choice at that election is clear, it’s stick with our plan that is working, it’s delivering change for people, ensuring they can have the peace of mind that there is a brighter future for their children and we can have renewed pride in our country.”
