Four UK cabinet ministers have urged their colleagues to rally behind Liz Truss as the British Prime Minister battles to steady the Conservative Party.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi, leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt and Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena have all written articles calling on the party to unite around its new leader or risk ending up in opposition.
A government source said the "cold hard reality" is the party must "get behind Liz" or wind up with a "monstrous coalition of Labour and the SNP", amid deep division in Tory ranks - with flashpoints including welfare and the environment.
Cabinet ministers are planning to question the prime minister in a meeting on Tuesday to demand that she rules out raising benefits in line with wages rather than inflation, according to The Sunday Times.
Behind the scenes, bitter anonymous briefings are rife.
It is also rumoured that former transport secretary Grant Shapps, who backed Ms Truss's rival Rishi Sunak for the Tory leadership, is offering himself as a caretaker prime minister.
Ms Braverman, who twice this week expressed a view that risked setting her at odds with government policy, used her piece in The Sun On Sunday to warn against "splits and fallout" in the Conservative Party.
She wrote: "Those working with Labour to undermine our Prime Minister are putting the Conservatives' chance of victory at the next election in real danger.
"So the choice for my colleagues and for us is as party is simple: Back Liz or get Keir Starmer, hand-in-hand with Nicola Sturgeon."
In his article for the Mail On Sunday, Mr Zahawi admitted the government did not get the "whole package right" when it came to its plan for growth, but drew a line under the affair, writing: "Another big decision, done."
"That is the mark of the Prime Minister's leadership," he said.
"She listened and decided to focus on what matters most: the bulk of our plan to get Britain moving."
He insisted that "now is the time" for the Tories to rally behind Ms Truss, warning that the alternative - a Labour government "propped up" by the SNP - is "beyond concerning".
Mr Zahawi said Tory MPs should be supporting their leader, and not be "working against her", as he cautioned "division will only result in drift, delay and defeat".
Ms Mordaunt writing in The Sunday Telegraph said Ms Truss had "acknowledged mistakes were made" with the mini-budget and "acted" accordingly.
"You measure leaders when they are in the ring dazzled by the media lights taking punch after punch and taking the hard decisions required.
"All my colleagues have a part to play in delivering for the British people. We need all talents helping our nation now. Division will only play into the hands of those who would take our country in the wrong direction."
Mr Jayawardena peddled a similar message in his own piece for The Sunday Express saying that for those who did not support Ms Truss, it would result in what he termed 'a coalition of chaos'.
"We need to back Liz Truss - or get Keir Starmer in Nicola Sturgeon's pocket."
Speaking at his parties conference this weekend, he called on Ms Truss to deliver the provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill by legislation or negotiation.
"On this issue it is not words but actions we need to see and we will judge any outcome on the basis of actions not words," he said.
In a message directed at the British government and the EU, the DUP leader said his party will go back into power sharing if "decisive action is taken on the Protocol that restores our place fully within the United Kingdom."
He also said his party does not fear a fresh Assembly election, which Ms Truss and Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris have said will be triggered if power sharing is not restored by 28 October.
