Senior Tories are secretly planning to shore up David Cameron ’ s leadership if he fails to win an overall majority in May . Loyalist MPs are being privately urged to form a ‘ praetorian guard ’ around the Prime Minister to protect him from Right-wingers plotting to move against him if he falls short . They are being asked to hit the airwaves in the hours following the election on May 7 to ‘ save Dave ’ by making it clear they want Mr Cameron to stay on . MPs loyal to David Cameron are secretly planning to shore up his leadership of he falls short at May election . No10 fears disgruntled MPs on the influential backbench 1922 Committee may use a meeting on the Monday after the election to push for a leadership contest . MPs thought to be loyal are being asked discreetly to promise they will help nip any mutiny in the bud . One MP told the Guardian : ‘ There is an attempt to form a praetorian guard round David . We are being asked to speak up for continuity and to say that our best option is to keep our leader ... to counter the malcontents . 'It would be extremely foolish to replace David . He out-polls our party . The Right just obsess about their issues and never look to the bigger picture. ’ The leadership denies it is directly involved in the ‘ save Dave ’ initiative , but a number of senior ministers , including Chancellor George Osborne and Chief Whip Michael Gove , are understood to have had informal conversations with MPs . Tory high command is even preparing to declare a ‘ moral victory ’ if – as some polls suggest – Mr Cameron secures more votes than Labour but wins fewer seats . A number of senior ministers , including Chancellor George Osborne ( pictured ) are understood to have had informal conversations with MPs . Mr Cameron will come under intense pressure to step down if he loses to Mr Miliband , whom many Tories rate as the worst Labour leader since Michael Foot . One Tory MP said Mr Cameron ‘ won ’ t last five minutes ’ unless he manages to retain the keys to Downing Street in May . ‘ He either wins , or he goes , ’ the MP said . ‘ He has said himself that if he can ’ t beat Miliband he doesn ’ t deserve to be in this game , and he ’ s right. ’ But some senior ministers believe Mr Cameron should stay on if Mr Miliband is only able to cobble together a fragile coalition . In this scenario , they fear the party could be plunged into a destabilising leadership battle in the run-up to a second election that could take place in the autumn . The news came as George Osborne last night predicted he will be re-appointed as Chancellor if the Tories win a second term . He said he did not think this week ’ s Budget would be his last , suggesting he believes the Tories will win in May – and that David Cameron will let him keep his job . There has been speculation that he might move to the Foreign Office to lead the renegotiation of Britain ’ s relationship with the EU . But he told LBC radio : ‘ This decision belongs to the British people . But I have to tell you , when I was about to walk out the door of No11 and I thought “ Is this the last time ? ” I honestly think it will not be. ’ Action hero : Cruise in the movie series Mission Impossible , which Cameron compared himself to . David Cameron has compared himself to Tom Cruise – by saying he will win in his ‘ Mission : Impossible ’ tussle with Brussels . The Prime Minister says he will succeed in clawing back powers from the EU – just like the Hollywood hero always ‘ prevails ’ in the hit film series . Speaking yesterday at his final EU summit before the election , he said : ‘ I ’ d make the point that if you watch any of his movies , you ’ ll find that Tom Cruise normally prevails in the end . He ’ s a little bit smaller than me but I hope to be just as effective. ’ The PM , who is 6ft 1in compared with Cruise ’ s 5ft 7in , was responding to a comment from European Council president Donald Tusk that achieving renegotiating EU treaties was ‘ close to mission impossible ’ . Mr Cameron also said that a win for Ed Miliband in May would cause arch-federalists on the continent to ‘ breathe a sigh of relief ’ . A Labour victory would cause those who want ever closer union to ‘ relax ’ , because they favour an ‘ easy life ’ , warned the Tory leader . His comments suggest the Conservatives plan to put the issue of Britain ’ s relations with Europe at the heart of the election campaign . Mr Cameron added : ‘ If Ed Miliband comes here in June , there will be no reform and no referendum . ’
Loyalist MPs urged to form a 'praetorian guard ' around Prime Minister . It 's to protect him from Right-wingers plotting to move against him . No10 fears disgruntled MPs on influential backbench will push for contest . Leadership denies it is directly involved in the 'save Dave ' initiative . A number of senior ministers have had 'informal conversations ' with MPs . David Cameron has backed down on plans to force universities to ban hate preachers from speaking on campus . Universities were expected to create anti-extremism policies to stop vulnerable youngsters being exposed to fanatics . But following a Coalition row , the Tories have dropped threats to punish universities that did not comply .