David Cameron "thinks people like him are born to rule", according to a withering assessment from his former Tory colleague John Bercow.
The ex-Prime Minister and Old Etonian has been slammed by the outgoing Commons Speaker as his old schoolmate Boris Johnson tries to win a majority in next month's general election.
Mr Bercow, who has now spoken out against Brexit after being accused of lacking impartiality while Speaker, also criticised the former prime minister's "enormous" self-confidence.
The ex-Commons speaker accused the former Tory PM of calling the referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union for selfish political reasons.
"David is relentlessly tactical rather than strategic. Let's face it, he chose to call the referendum. Was there a clamour for it? There was not," he told the Observer.
"There was chuntering in his own party, but the public wasn't demanding one. He just thought it would work for him."
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Mr Bercow, who attended a comprehensive school, said Eton-educated Mr Cameron has the "most enormous, probably public-school-instilled, self-confidence".
"He thinks people like him are born to rule, that the natural order is that people like him run things, and that he is in a superior position."
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Mr Bercow refused to say how he would vote at the election – despite representing the Tories before he became speaker.
He stood down as MP for Buckingham at the end of last month after more than two decades in Parliament.
His comments come as fresh opinion polls show the Tories with double-digit leads over Labour.
The Brexit Party's support has also fallen back in three polls released this morning.
Nigel Farage is under increasing pressure to scale back his election plans for fear of splitting the pro-Brexit vote.
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Today, the Tories have said Labour's spending plans amount to £1.2trillion and will leave Britain on the "brink of bankruptcy".
Although shadow chancellor John McDonnell says the party's manifesto will be "fully costed" when it is published later this mont, and branded the report commissioned by his counterpart Sajid Javid as "fake news".