Theresa May will sack Cabinet ministers if they are proven to be sex pests, the Telegraph understands, as a rapidly growing list of MPs accused of harassment circulated in Westminster.

The Prime Minister wrote to Commons Speaker John Bercow yesterday demanding tough new rules to govern MPs’ behaviour, saying the problem “cannot be tolerated any longer”.

It was claimed Conservative party staff have complied a list of 36 current Tory MPs against whom allegations of inappropriate behaviour have been made, including having affairs with junior colleagues, being "handsy" with women and using prostitutes.

Mrs May also asked the Cabinet Office to investigate the conduct of international trade minister Mark Garnier, who admitted calling his secretary “sugar t**s” and sending her to buy sex toys for him.

Another senior Conservative, former cabinet minister Stephen Crabb, has admitted sending “explicit” messages to a 19-year-old woman after he interviewed her for a job.

A series of lurid allegations have also surfaced involving seven other unnamed Tories, prompting fears in the Conservative Party that the Government could be destabilised if the scandal grows.

They include:

A current Cabinet minister who is alleged to have put his hand on a female journalist’s thigh and said: “God, I love those t**s”

A second Cabinet minister who is alleged to have had an affair with a junior female aide who is also an MP

A former Tory minister who allegedly propositioned his secretary by asking her to “come and feel the length of my ****”

An MP who made a member of staff feel “uncomfortable” by repeatedly touching them and making “intimidating” comments about their clothing.

The names of the Cabinet ministers under suspicion have been an open secret in Westminster for days, but their accusers have chosen not to go public with their claims.