Sajid Javid warned Theresa May her “divided party” was set to hand power to Jeremy Corbyn, in outspoken criticism after the Conservatives lost a staggering 1,200 councillors.

The prime minister also faced calls for Tory MPs to move against her “immediately”, after she suffered a local election disaster beyond the party’s worst fears – blamed on her failure to deliver Brexit.

Criticism of Ms May – who faced a heckler at party conference in Wales, demanding to know ‘Why don’t you go?’ – stretched beyond Brexiteers who have long been trying to topple her.

Terrified Tories were left contemplating an even greater wipeout at the European elections later this month, at the hands of a resurgent Nigel Farage and his new Brexit Party.

Meanwhile, the campaign for a Final Say Brexit referendum gained a heavyweight Tory supporter when Sir Eric Pickles, a former party chairman, gave his surprise backing.

Speaking to Conservatives in Scotland, Mr Javid, the home secretary and a likely leadership contender when Ms May departs, painted a bleak picture of his party’s plight.

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He criticised the failure to “communicate our values, our vision”, and said: “We are seen as a divided team. A divided party cannot unite a divided nation.

“The only winner from that is Corbyn. If we are divided, he will rule. Voters don’t reward any of these things.”

Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, also questioned the prime minister’s future, saying only that she was the right person in Downing Street “for now”.

He described the results as a slap in the face for both the main parties. “My heart goes out to conservative councillors who have lost their seats,” he said.

The Tories, like Labour, won about 28 per cent of the vote – down 7 points on last year – suffering in southern heartlands including Chelmsford, Somerset and Ms May’s backyard of Windsor and Maidenhead.

There were embarrassing defeats to the Liberal Democrats for the local councils in Somerset of leading Brexiteers Liam Fox, the trade secretary, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

A general election projection by Sky News suggested the Tories would lose 33 seats – probably handing power to Labour in alliance with the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats.

If Brexit remained unresolved at that point, it would almost certainly trigger a Final Say referendum as the price of the support of the Remain parties.

Sir Eric became the latest senior Conservative to urge Ms May to choose that way out, saying: “I can’t believe I’m saying this, because I was absolutely opposed to a second referendum.

“A clear choice has got to be put to the public in terms of where they want to go. Do they want Ms May’s deal, do they want to have Brexit without a period of transition, or do they want to stay in the European Union?”

Speaking in Wales, the prime minister blamed the Brexit crisis for the Tory's poll failure, saying: “There was a simple message from yesterday's elections to both us and the Labour Party – just get on and deliver Brexit.”