Most Tories want to ditch Theresa May as leader claims George Osborne as the ex-chancellor blasted the woman who booted him out of Cabinet

GEORGE Osborne has warned Theresa May that she faces a fresh election meltdown unless she starts embracing modern Britain.

The ex-chancellor blasted the woman who booted him out of Cabinet in his most withering attack so far on the Prime Minister.

He urged her to be more welcoming to migrants, give up her opposition to building on the green belt and embrace Remain voters as well as those who backed Leave in the EU referendum.

At a lunch in Parliament the former minister – once favourite to enter Number 10 after David Cameron left the role – insisted his bitter enemy Mrs May’s days in No10 are numbered.

There is a “consensus view” among Conservative MPs that she can’t fight the 2022 general election, so “at some point something will happen”, he added.

Sticking the knife in over her botched General Election he said she lost her majority because she made a “big mistake” in telling those who don’t like Brexit to “shut up”.

Issuing his biting critique of her disastrous 2017 election offer, Mr Osborne warned Tory councillors face a massacre in May’s local elections.

The Evening Standard editor said: “The fact that a fringe far left Labour leadership is even in contention for national office is I’m afraid a reflection of the state of the Conservative Party.

“We’ve got to be pro-business, pro-market, pro-development, fiscally responsible Conservatives.

“If we present ourselves to the country as anti-modern, anti-immigrant, anti-urban, anti-Metropolitan, then huge sections of the country will be anti us.

“We saw that frankly at the last general election, and we may see in the London elections in a few months time.”

The former MP for Tatton, who left Parliament this year, said Mrs May would survive a vote of confidence in the House of Commons.

But he stressed that was not the true test of the strength of her leadership.

He said: “The essential question is going to be – is there going to be a change of leadership in this Parliament? The Conservative Party parliamentary party assumes there will be, the Prime Minister has said nothing about that.

“And at some point that is going to come to a head.”

He added: “I would make the observation that it is the consensus view of the Conservative parliamentary Party that the leadership should change.

“So at some point something will happen.”

Asked if he regretted his comment about wanting Mrs May “chopped up in bags in my freezer”, which he has already apologised for, he replied: “It’s taught me a few things about editorial conference meetings.”

And Mr Osborne did not rule out a return to the House of Commons but insisted he was enjoying his current role.

He joked: “It’s so nice to be back.

“I don’t rule it out just because I think you can be foolish saying never to things, but it is certainly not what I think I’m going to be doing with my life in the future.

“I am very much enjoying editing the paper and for me aged 46, having had 20 years in politics, I’ve discovered a new career and a new life and I’m quite enjoying it.”