A SENIOR Scottish Tory has said the Prime Minister should quit if she cannot turn around the crisis over her authority within days.

Liz Smith, the party’s finance spokesperson, said Liz Truss could have taken steps that would have helped “avoid this mess”.

Her comments come as Truss will hold talks later today with the European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs as she seeks support.

In an interview on Monday night, the Prime Minister declared she intends to lead the Conservatives into the next General Election, and apologised for making mistakes.

READ MORE: Liz Truss apologises for 'mistakes' in 'shocking' BBC interview

However her battle to cling onto power after new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tore up her economic strategy became even harder as a new poll suggested the Tory membership who appointed her Prime Minister appeared to be turning on her.

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme Smith said: "She can't command the confidence of the general public, of colleagues and of the markets.

"There's been a little improvement on the market scenario to be fair, but she's got days left to turn this round and if she can't do that I think she needs to stand down."

Smith said she had sympathy for Truss facing the difficulties in the “full glare of the public”, saying it is a “ghastly scenario” for anyone to be in.

But she went on: “That's not to take away from the fact that I think there are things she should have been doing that would have helped to avoid this mess."

She claimed she had supported many aspects of Kwasi Kwarteng’s doomed mini-budget as she had assumed it would be published alongside a full report from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

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Smith also said it was “disappointing when our UK Government enters very turbulent waters” and admitted there was a danger the Scottish Tories could be impacted.

"What we've got to be able to do is ensure that when we are taking decisions in the Scottish Parliament, that is very closely aligned with our colleagues in Westminster and we're not undermined in any way by what's going on down south,” she added.

However Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has said he backs the Prime Minister and the Chancellor and the UK government to “get growth back into our economy".

He told STV's Scotland Tonight: "There's now a different direction of travel but the ultimate destination has not changed."