A former Norfolk Conservative MP has said Liz Truss is now "dead in the water" and the current state of his party has left him more depressed than at any time since he joined the Tories more than 50 years ago.
Keith Simpson, who was MP for Mid Norfolk from 1997 until 2010 and Broadland from 2010 to 2019, said he believed it was now a matter of when, not if, Ms Truss's stint as prime minister ends.
Mr Simpson said: "I have been active in the Conservative party since 1967 and I have seen everything you can possibly think of during that period, but this is the most the most depressed I have been.
"I thought that, when the party members selected Iain Duncan Smith as leader that was the nadir, but it has got worse.
"The only good news is that Jeremy Hunt is in and he is a safe pair of hands."
On South West Norfolk MP Ms Truss' future, Mr Simpson said: "I just feel that, however absurd it will look to the public to have to replace her so soon, she is dead in the water.
"Getting rid of her is not that difficult, but the difficult bit will be deciding who will succeed her.
"The Tory party has fallen into so many factions - not helped by social media."
And Mr Simpson said, if Ms Truss does go, there will be repercussions for other Norfolk and Suffolk MPs.
Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey, Norwich North MP Chloe Smith and Great Yarmouth MP Brandon Lewis are all members of her cabinet.
Mr Simpson said: "If she goes it will have an impact on Norfolk. They are all joined to her hip."
Meanwhile, Baroness Shephard, who was MP for South West Norfolk - the constituency now held by Ms Truss - from 1987 to 2005, said she was "disappointed" with the way her successor's premiership has unfolded so far.
She said: "I am very disappointed. She began with her customary energy, enthusiasm and exceptional capacity for hard work.
"There has, no doubt, been outside factors like the pandemic and the world economic situation, but she would have been aware of those.
"I think the way she put it, that she tried to go too quickly, is possibly the best way to look at it.
"Mrs Thatcher was her idol. It's always as well to look back at what Mrs Thatcher said about the economy. One is that you must have sound money and the second is that you must balance the books.
"She has certainly given her leadership campaign and this period her all. And that is why I am sad."
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