Theresa May has been warned by a senior Tory MP that the party is at risk of being defined as one of “lazy privilege”.

In a letter to the prime minister, George Freeman said the Conservatives were now “in a new battle of ideas which is reshaping 21st century politics”.

“We need to move fast to show that the Conservative party has learnt the lessons of the last election and is serious about intellectual, organisational and cultural renewal,” the letter seen by Politics Home said.

“If we allow ourselves to be defined as a narrow party of nostalgia, hard Brexit, public sector austerity and lazy privilege we risk alienating ourselves from an entire new generation of voters.”

Freeman is the chair of the Conservative Party’s policy forum. It is the second high profile intervention he has made this week.

On Tuesday the MP for Mid Norfolk said Brexit risked turning the United Kingdom into “an old people’s home that couldn’t pay for itself”.

He told a conference in London that the UK may have “finally failed” as a “great nation and became a second or third tier nation.”

Freeman’s warning about the party losing younger votes comes ahead of Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget on Wednesday.

Sajid Javid yesterday defended Millennials against accusations from older voters that they can not afford a house because they “spend too much on nights out and smashed avocados”.

The communities secretary said that was “nonsense” as he said there needed to be a “giant leap” to build more houses.