Senior Conservatives have started to endorse calls for a general election after Boris Johnson sensationally pulled out of the Tory leadership race.
Staunch Johnson ally and former cabinet member Nadine Dorries admitted it was now "impossible" to avoid an election, after the humiliated former Prime Minister announced he would not put his name forward for a return to No10.
The 11th hour twist left his arch-rival Rishi Sunak in pole position to be 'crowned' in the top job on Monday afternoon, with sole rival Penny Mordaunt left with only hours to reach the all-important 100 signatures.
Responding to the weekend's events, Ms Dorries tweeted: "Boris would have won members vote - already had a mandate from the people.
"Rishi and Penny, despite requests from Boris refused to unite which would have made governing utterly impossible. Penny actually asked him to step aside for her. It will now be impossible to avoid a GE."
Ms Dorries also dismissed the prospect of Rishi Sunak as PM in a sign of potential early disunity from Mr Johnson's allies, quoting a tweet from pundit James Melville where he described him as "the bloke who lost to Liz Truss in a vote by his own party members".
Meanwhile, Tory Minister Zac Goldsmith admitted a general election was "morally unavoidable".
He tweeted on Sunday afternoon: "I don’t see how we can have a 3rd new Prime Minister - & a policy programme that is miles away from the original manifesto - without going to the country.
"Conservative MPs understandably won’t want to and are legally not obliged to, but it will be morally unavoidable."
Calls for a general election have intensified since Liz Truss resigned on Friday, with Britain now preparing to welcome its second unelected Prime Minister in as many months.
Tory veteran Sir Christopher Chope said his party has become "ungovernable" and a general election is "the only answer".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "If people who are now seeking the crown want to have the respect which comes from having a mandate, then what I'm saying is that the best way they can get that respect is by winning a mandate with the people, and that's why I think a general election is essentially the only answer, otherwise we're just going to go from bad to worse.
"The party is ungovernable in the House of Commons and so we're going to have continuing rebellions as we try to change policies and so on.
"Sp I must say I'm very pessimistic, I'm very angry, and I feel that Boris has been let down once again and undermined by our parliamentary colleagues."
On Sunday, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy said Conservative backbenchers should act on principle and trigger an early election by a vote in the Commons.
She added that it was a "tragic fact" that the "future of this country lies in the hands of a small number of people who are currently putting party before country”.
The Daily Mirror has also been leading a campaign, with over 106,500 members of the public signing our petition to hold a General Election NOW.
Many have left comments voicing their frustration at the Tory chaos, as one signatory named Jennifer wrote: "It’s obvious at this point that the conservatives find it impossible to act in the national interest. This whole mess is just them trying to safeguard their jobs. Enough is enough."
Under the current rules, there is no requirement to hold a snap general election when the ruling party changes leader.
An election is only triggered when an early general election is called under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, or a vote of confidence is lost by the Prime Minister.
It will be at the discretion of the next PM as to whether they want to hold a general election, with Liz Truss refusing to do so during her brief spell in power.
