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.