Jeremy Hunt dropped a major hint on the date of the next general election.
The Chancellor suggested Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will call a ballot once inflation has dropped below three percent.
Mr Hunt made the comments in a secret recording of a private meeting with Tory activists.
According to the Sunday Times, he said: “I’m not wanting to give away anything about the date of the next election – not that I know – but the Bank of England says this time next year it will be three percent.
“So I think the electorate will have a very strong sense of a party that has taken the tough difficult decisions to deal with our most pressing problem.”
Mr Hunt’s comments come amid mounting Tory calls for tax cuts before the country takes to the polls.
Former prime minister Liz Truss is among dozens of Conservative MPs who have said they will refuse to vote for new tax rises.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove today called for taxes to be cut before the next election
The Levelling Up Secretary told Sky News: “I would like to see the tax burden reduced before the next election.”
Mr Gove suggested the focus should be on cutting taxes on work such as income tax or national insurance.
He said: “My own view is, wherever possible, we should cut taxes on work.
“In other words, we should incentivise people to work harder, we should make sure they are better rewarded for the enterprise, the effort, the endeavour that they put in.”
But Mr Sunak defended his focus on halving inflation amid Tory clamour for a pre-election giveaway.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the PM said “we’re all Conservatives, of course we want to cut taxes”.
But he insisted: “The best tax cut, though, that I can deliver right now for the country is to halve inflation.”
Mr Sunak said it is a “deeply Conservative approach”, adding “this is what Margaret Thatcher did, this is what Nigel Lawson did”.
