A hung parliament would be worse for the country than a Labour victory at the next general election, Ken Clarke, the shadow business secretary has said.
In remarks that may trouble David Cameron, the former chancellor said that the state of the economy meant the country needed a strong government willing to push through unpopular decisions.
"At a time of national crisis, a hung parliament would be one of the biggest disasters we could suffer," he said at a Commons lunch for reporters.
"[It would be] a bigger danger than a Labour victory."
Clarke's warning came after an opinion poll suggested that the Conservatives may struggle to win a working majority at the next general election. A Populus poll for the Times on Tuesday gave the Tories a lead of 10 points over Labour but this would translate into a Commons majority of only two for Cameron.
At the lunch Clarke also declared his opposition to plans to allow peers to take questions in the Commons. The proposal was largely made to allow Lord Mandelson, widely regarded as the de facto deputy prime minister, to field questions from MPs.
"I'm actually rather against that," Mr Clarke said. "I'm not sure that all these Lords ministers should be given the legitimacy they seek by being allowed to be directly accountable [to MPs]."
Clarke, a lone Europhile in the Tory shadow cabinet, also appeared to suggest that Cameron's pledge to repatriate powers over social and employment policy from the European Union was designed mainly to placate the party's Eurosceptic grassroots.
"I think it's largely reassurance," he said.
