GEORGE SOROS: Theresa May will not last long as prime minister

Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros said Theresa May is unlikely to last long in power with a divided cabinet and slim parliamentary majority.

"It is unlikely that Prime Minister May is actually going to remain in power," Soros, 86, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Francine Lacqua.

"She already has a divided cabinet, a small majority in parliament, and I think she will not last," he said.

Soros also said that the UK is "in denial" about the negative economic effects of leaving the European Union.

Soros said living standards will drop at some point and people will change their minds about leaving the EU.

"At the moment the people in the UK are in denial," said Soros. "The current economic situation is not as bad as predicted and they live in hope."

"But as the currency depreciates, inflation will be the driving force that leads to the decline in living standards. It will take a while but it will happen. And then they'll realise that they're earning less than before because wages won't rise as costs of living. It's much harder to divorce than get married. The desire for rapprochement will grow."

Before Brexit, Soros predicted "the pound would fall by at least 15% and possibly more than 20%," on a vote to leave the EU, which has proved to be true.

Soros, whose hedge fund made £1 billion betting against the pound on "Black Wednesday" in 1992, struck a dark tone on the future the EU. "The European Union has become too complicated and people are alienated. And anti-EU parties and movements are gathering force and things look very bleak," he said.

"The European Union has become too complicated and people are alienated. And anti-EU parties and movements are gathering force and things look very bleak," he said.

Soros ended with concerns that tensions between China and the US over trade could lead to worsening global security. "If you start a trade war it can easily deteriorate in other conflicts, it's very dangerous," he said.

In the same interview, Soros attacked President-elect Donald Trump as "an imposter and con man and a would-be dictator."