Rishi Sunak has said the general election result is “not a foregone conclusion”, despite “a disappointing” set of local elections for the Tories.
Speaking to broadcasters for the first time since the extent of Tory losses were clear, the PM said he was “determined to fight” on.
The party lost 470 council seats, as well as all but one mayoral contests.
The BBC has spoken to a number of Tory MPs who reflected an increasing pessimism in the party.
One senior figure in the party described the next months as “managed decline”, and talked of the Conservatives waiting for their fate.
But there appears to be no prospect of a move against Rishi Sunak in the coming days.
Earlier, Mr Sunak told the Times the local election results “suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party” – appearing to concede for the first time that his party could be on course to lose its majority.
“Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain,” he said.
“The country does not need more political horse trading, but action.”
Labour has denied it is planning alliances with other parties in order to form a government at the next general election, which is expected in the second half of this year.
Mr Sunak’s comments reflect analysis by leading psephologist Prof Michael Thrasher for Sky News – which suggested Labour would win 294 seats at a general election.
The projection, which has been dismissed by some polling experts, used the local election results to project a nationwide estimate of vote share at a general election.
It assumes everyone would vote in the same way at a general election as they did in last week’s local elections. However, smaller parties and independent candidates tend to do better in local elections.
It also does not take account of what could happen in Scotland, instead using the results of the 2019 general election, while Labour are expected to do much better there this year.
Challenged over his suggestion there could be a hung Parliament, Mr Sunak said: “The independent analysis shows that whilst of course this was a disappointing weekend for us, that the result of the next general election isn’t a foregone conclusion and indeed actually is closer than, or the situation is closer than, many people are saying – or indeed some of the opinion polls are predicting.
“And that’s why I’m absolutely determined to fight incredibly hard for what I believe and for the future country that I want to build, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
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