Northern Tory MPs are warning Boris Johnson to cut taxes or face a wipeout at the polls as pressure mounts on ministers over the cost of living.
Influential backbencher Jake Berry said parties that fail to listen to their voters face "political annihilation" as he set out demands to funnel more public cash outside London.
The Northern Research Group (NRG) chairman will tell a conference in Doncaster today: "It’s time to stop talking about being the party of low tax, it’s time to be the Government of low tax."
It comes amid a mounting Tory tax row, as Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Cabinet Minister Michael Gove hinted personal tax cuts won't come until rising prices are brought under control.
The PM is facing a battle to win two critical by-elections next week, including Wakefield, in the Red Wall, and the Devon seat of Tiverton and Honiton.
The NRG is calling for a "Levelling Up formula" - similar to the Barnet formula which allocates public cash to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and powers for mayoral authorities to cut taxes.
Mr Berry will demand an end to "conservation of southern privilege" as he piles pressure on the Prime Minister to do more to hold onto Red Wall seats.
Ahead of his speech, the Rossendale and Darwen MP fired off a warning to Mr Johnson, who is facing calls to slash taxes from across the Tory party.
Asked if the PM faces political annihilation if he doesn't listen, Mr Berry told Today: "I think the PM will listen... the phrase I used was that any political party that fails to listen to its voters faces political annihilation.
"I stand by that and I think if you look back over the last few elections then that holds water and is absolutely true."
It comes after Mr Gove warned that the Government couldn't help everyone with cost of living "pain" as inflation was predicted to rocket to 11% in the autumn.
The Chancellor said fiscal policy must remain "responsible" and not "exacerbate" inflation, in a letter to Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey
He wrote: "This is why, in responding to urgent cost of living pressures that people are facing, I announced a series of measures which are timely, targeted, and temporary to help households manage the squeeze on real incomes whilst not adding unnecessarily to inflation".
Mr Gove later said he agreed tax cuts should be shelved until inflation is brought down.
Asked if that would have to wait until 2024, Mr Gove told TalkTV: "The Chancellor has the right policy... He can't spend all of the public money that many would wish to and which, in a perfect world, we'd like to".
He also told The Times CEO Summit that the pressure on the public finances meant the Government was unable to provide the level of support to people that it would like.
"When you are squeezing inflation out of the system, you will rely on the Bank of England and the Government having the fiscal and the monetary policies which will inevitably mean we cannot do all the things that we would, in ideal circumstances, like to do in order to support people through a difficult period," he said.
Today, Business Minister Paul Scully said he wants "to get back to being a low-tax Government".
He told LBC: "I want to get back to being a low-tax Government trusting people to spend their own money.
"However, we put £408 billion into the economy over Covid - that does give us 408 billion reasons to get this next bit right, to make sure that the gains that we had protecting livelihoods and businesses don't get lost in these headwinds that are with us.
"Nonetheless, though, there are some tax cuts that are still going through, whether it's the air passenger duty, the 5p off fuel duty - albeit that that's obviously got swallowed up by massive global pressures.
"But importantly for businesses and growing, the super deduction on capital investments; and for individuals, the changes to National Insurance thresholds which they will actually see - something like 80% of workers will see more money in their pay packet next month when that kicks in."
