A former government minister has put new pressure on Japan’s embattled prime minister by threatening to quit the ruling Liberal Democratic party unless it drops plans for a Y2,000bn ($21.5bn, €15.8bn, £14.7bn) cash handout to the public and agrees to hold an early general election.

The bold demands from Yoshimi Watanabe, former state minister for administrative reform, reflect increasingly open dissatisfaction within the ruling LDP with the prime minister, who has already seen his support ratings plunge to levels that proved politically fatal to previous premiers.