Chris Grayling believes Jeremy Corbyn could one day take office in Number 10 if the Conservatives take their eye off the ball.

The Secretary of State for Transport says the Labour leader will “limp to power” in a hung parliament, backed by the Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party (SNP), if the Tories continue “fighting”.

The Epsom and Ewell MP was writing on the Conservative Home website in a rallying cry ahead of local elections in May.

“Corbyn doesn’t need to sweep the board to get into Downing Street,” said Mr Grayling.

“He has a new army of far left supporters of Momentum who will take to the streets in the coming weeks.

“Their party subscriptions have given him a fresh fighting fund. The eminent political commentator John Curtice wrote recently about how Corbyn could limp to power backed by the Lib Dems and the SNP.

“So Tim Farron and Nicola Surgeon could help Corbyn to become Prime Minister even if his party doesn’t think he can win a majority himself.”

Jeremy Corbyn attacks "Irony Lady" Theresa May over Brexit

There was talk of Islington MP and Arsenal fan Mr Corbyn being rebranded as a leftwing populist to ride the tide of anti-politics mood in Britain.

The 67-year-old has begun by accusing Theresa May of "having her cake and eating it" and of trying to turn the UK into a tax haven.

SNP and Lib Dem policies frequently overlap with Labour thinking, making an alliance possible in theory, although a 296-seat coalition of the three parties still would not have won the 2015 General Election.

Mr Grayling said the Tories must fight to win every seat in May, including the Birmingham mayoral and Scottish local elections, to ensure the Lib Dems cannot “rebuild their grassroots”.

The former BBC News and TV producer, whose letter asking Boris Johnson to keep rail routes out of “the clutches of a Labour mayor” was leaked to media last month, added: “We have an opposition that is more interested in cosying up to militant union leaders than backing hard-working people.

“But if we assume that Jeremy Corbyn has no route to power, we would be making a big mistake. It’s one that we cannot, must not and will not make.”