A Cabinet minister encouraged a plot by up to 30 Tory MPs to oust Theresa May by the end of the year, a former Conservative Party chairman has claimed.

Grant Shapps was named by Government whips as the leader of a group that wants to pressure the Prime Minister into resigning after her disastrous election performance.

Tory MPs today lined up to criticise Mr Shapps, telling him that he should "shut up" and saying that his "botched" coup was doomed to failure.

However Mr Shapps accused Tory MPs of "burying their heads in the sand" and told The Telegraph that the revolt over Mrs May's leadership "will not go away".

He said that the group had been backed in the month after the General Election by a Cabinet minister who wants the Prime Minister to step aside.