Rishi Sunak has just “a few months” to make sure voters feel better off, senior Tory Iain Duncan Smith has said.
The former Conservative leader and cabinet minister said the “public is angry, annoyed and fed up”.
His comments came after a bombshell mega-poll in The Sunday Times suggested the Tories are on course to win fewer than 100 seats at the next election.
The Survation survey for the Best for Britain campaign group said Labour was heading for a landslide 142-seat majority.
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In an interview with Times Radio, Duncan Smith said the poll result reflected “mostly concern and anger about cost of living”.
“Migration has [also] become a very big issue. All good reasons why the public is angry, annoyed and fed up,” he said.
“This is all about a real anger with the government. I can fully understand that. There are things the government has got to get straight.
“Bring inflation down, interest rates down, taxation down. Get [Rwanda] flights off the ground.
Duncan Smith added: “Getting pressure off people’s backs financially is absolutely critical. We have a few months to make sure people are better off.
“The general view of the public is we [the governing party] have no strength.
“We are in on ourselves and we’re not interested in what they do. The most important thing is to deliver”.
The next big test for Sunak will be the local elections on May 2, which polling experts have predicted will see the Tories lose 500 council seats.
A bad result could see further calls for Sunak to be ousted as prime minister before the general election, which is due this year.
The prime minister has said indicated he will call the election in the autumn, but it has been suggested he could call it for June or July in an attempt to see off any challenges to his leadership.