More than one in five Brits think Rishi Sunak will be gone BEFORE the next general election in wake of Tories' local elections drubbing, new poll finds

• Savanta survey reveals 22% believe PM will stand down before general election

More than one in five Britons think Rishi Sunak will quit as Tory leader before the next general election in the wake of his local elections drubbing, a new poll has revealed.

A Savanta survey revealed 22 per cent believe the Prime Minister will stand down before voters next head to the ballot box to choose a new government.

Even 15 per cent of those who backed the Conservatives at the 2019 general election think the PM would be gone by the time of the next Westminster contest.

One in four Labour (25 per cent) and Liberal Democrat (27 per cent) supporters were shown to believe Mr Sunak will likely not be PM at the next general election.

Political opponents claimed the survey showed Mr Sunak's days in No10 'are numbered' and he is at risk of being toppled by his Tory backbenchers.

The poll was conducted in the days immediately after council elections across England, which saw the Tories shed more than 1,000 seats.

The dire result has piled pressure on Mr Sunak and seen the PM subject to a barrage of criticism this weekend.

At a gathering organised by Boris Johnson's most vocal backers yesterday, a number of Tories questioned their party's direction under its current leadership.

Former home secretary Priti Patel and ex-culture secretary Nadine Dorries, who both served in Mr Johnson's Cabinet, were among those to make interventions at the Conservative Democratic Organisation conference in Bournemouth.

Ms Patel has accused Mr Sunak of overseeing the 'managed decline' of the Conservative Party, while Ms Dorries expressed fears the Tories are 'drifting'.

She added the party 'no longer have that inspirational leader and those visionary policies that people can go out and vote for'.

But the PM was backed to remain in post by one of Mr Johnson's loyalists today, with former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg warning the Tories would be 'toast' if they ditched another leader.

'The Conservatives cannot keep changing leaders, we must back the leader we have got,' he told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday show.

'The Tory party would be toast if we changed leader again. We have got to support the leader we’ve got.'

But Mr Rees-Mogg also reiterated his view that it was a 'mistake' for the Tories to have ousted Mr Johnson from Downing Street last summer.

It came as Grant Shapps, a current Cabinet minister, offered an upbeat assessment of the Conservatives' chances at the next general election, despite the grim council results. 

The Energy Secretary insisted there was a 'steely determination' within Conservative ranks to deliver on the PM's five priorities and claimed the party was 'buzzing with energy and ideas'.

He also said it was wrong to suggest it is 'written in the stars' that the Tories cannot win the next general election, despite Labour's sizeable opinion poll lead.

The Savanta poll was commissioned by the Lib Dems and saw more than 2,000 British adults interviewed between the 5th and 9th May.

Liberal Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: 'With Conservative voters in open revolt against the Government, it looks like Rishi Sunak's days in No10 are numbered.

'Rishi Sunak promised stability and integrity, but the endless cycle of scandals continues.

'He has lurched from scandal to scandal and failed to bring down rising bills.

'His five pledges are already in tatters and the British public knows the Conservative party is no longer fit to govern.

'Even Conservative voters know Sunak is weak and at risk of being ousted by mutinous backbenchers in his own party.'