New Tory chairman Greg Hands on Wednesday put his party on an 18-month General Election alert.
The Chelsea and Fulham MP stressed the Conservatives needed to swiftly get their party machinery in a “fighting condition”.
Less than 24 hours after taking over from Nadhim Zahawi at the helm of the party, he sent a message out to Tory supporters.
“The next 18 months will see us win or lose the next general election,” he said.
“I’ll be spending the next few days getting to grips with the party machinery.
“We need it in fighting condition.”
He added: “We need to hit the ground running to keep Keir Starmer out of Downing Street.”
Eighteen months would mean a General Election in August which is highly unlikely given so many people are on holiday.
But the timeframe appeared to suggest Rishi Sunak will call an election for early autumn.
It seemed to rule out a poll in the final few months of 2024 or in January 2025, the latest possible date for the next General Election to be held.
Appearing on GB News on Wednesday morning, Mr Hands said the election would be next year.
He admitted that local elections in May could be “difficult” for the Tories, a sign that the party is unlikely to go for a General Election then or in the following few months.
Many polls currently put Labour 20 points or more ahead of the Tories, with Sir Keir Starmer looking increasingly on track to gain the keys to No10.
Holding the next election in the autumn, rather than the spring, would give Mr Sunak more time to deliver on his reforms and pledges.
In a potential switch of tactics, Mr Hands also criticised the “Labour party behind Sir Keir”, and sought to portray them as “very much characterised by the people that Jeremy Corbyn put in place”.
Political analysts have stressed that the Tories have struggled to successfully target the Labour leader.
Mr Zahawi was sacked after being found by Mr Sunak’s ethics adviser to have breached the ministerial code over the sale of shares in the YouGov polling company which he co-founded.
