NADINE Dorries has criticised Liz Truss for ditching key policies pushed forward by Boris Johnson's administration.

The former culture secretary said the new Prime Minister should hold a general election and win a “whole new mandate” for her agenda.

The criticism of the fledgling Tory leader came just hours after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was forced to ditch his plans to abolish the top rate of tax for high earners. 

His humiliating climb down followed a number of Tory MPs making clear they would not back the plans when they came to a vote in the Commons.

Ms Dorries, a staunchly loyal supporter of Boris Johnson, said key policies, including the privatisation of Channel 4 and the Online Safety Bill had been “signed off” and “ready to go” but had been parked by the new administration.

Dorries tweeted: “Widespread dismay at the fact that three years of work has effectively been put on hold. No one asked for this.

“C4 sale, online safety, BBC licence feee review - all signed off by cabinet all ready to go, all stopped.

“If Liz wants a whole new mandate, she must take to the country.”

Earlier, Rachel Wolf, the co-author of Boris Johnson’s 2019 Tory manifesto, told The Mirror that Ms Truss had won the recent leadership election “due to perceived loyalty to” the former prime minister, but that the government had neither a democratic or Parliamentary mandate.

During an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Ms Truss was asked how many people had actually voted for her plans in government. 

Ms Truss paused before asking: “What do you mean by that?”

When it was pointed out that there had been a shift in policy since the 2019 general election, Ms Truss responded: “Well, people in 2019 who voted Conservative, voted for a successful country where we are levelling up all parts of the country where we’re driving growth, enterprise and opportunity.”

The next general election is not expected until 2024, though it does not need to happen until early 2025. 

Ms Truss has already ruled out an early vote.

Polling over the last week suggests that any election would lead to a Labour landslide. 

Speaking at an event on the fringe of the Conservative Party conference, pollster Sir John Curtice suggested Sir Keir Starmer would win with a “three-figure majority”.

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg disagreed with Ms Dorries.

He told a Telegraph event at the Conservative conference that he and “wonderful” Ms Dorries used to get on “like a house on fire” around the Cabinet table and agreed on “almost everything”.

Mr Rees-Mogg added: “I don’t think there’s going to be an immediate election and I don’t think there’s a requirement for one.”

He suggested the government could wait until the very end of their term before calling a vote: “There’s nothing like a good winter election is there?"

Ms Dorries was offered the chance to keep her cabinet job when Ms Truss replaced Mr Johnson. However, she turned it down to return to the backbenches.

She has been tipped to enter the House of Lords in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list.

In an interview over the weekend, she said she was “baffled and bewildered” that her party had forced Mr Johnson out of office. She told the Sunday Times he was “one of the world’s best leaders”.