Liz Truss is facing a backlash from Conservative MPs after sacking her chancellor and announcing a second U-turn on major economic policy.
“We cannot go on like this indefinitely,” a former minister told.
Another Tory MP said the party was in a “state of despair” after the Prime Minister’s Downing Street news conference.
Truss supporter Christopher Chopp said “time will tell” whether he had done enough to secure his position, calling those plotting to unseat him “hyenas”.
Sir Christopher said: “We can’t possibly force another prime minister out of office, we just have to keep calm and try to give the prime minister our support.”
In an attempt to quell the turmoil in financial markets, Ms Truss sacked her chancellor and close ally, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. He then made a key policy change to the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%.
It is the second major U-turn in September’s mini-budget after Ms Truss scrapped her plans to scrap the top rate of income tax earlier this month.
At a brief news conference in Downing Street on Friday, the prime minister rejected calls for her to resign, saying she was determined to keep her promises.
Commenting on the corporation tax U-turn, Sir Christopher added that it was “damaging growth prospects” and “completely inconsistent” with what Ms Truss said during her leadership campaign.
Andrew Bergen, Conservative MP for Coalwell, said he believed there would be “a challenge for Truss over the next few weeks”.
Mr Bergen, who backed Rishi Shank as leader, said: “There is a lot of discontent in the parliamentary party.
“Removing Quasi-Kwarteng when he implemented the policies he asked him to do would not have earned his loyalty.”
Meanwhile, former Conservative leader William Hague said his prime ministership was “hanging by a thread”.
