The ex-cabinet secretary says a Government formed after an Out vote may have difficulty passing significant laws.
Parliament and Whitehall will be paralysed by gridlock in the event of a Leave vote in the EU referendum, one of Britain's most distinguished top civil servants has told Sky News.
Lord O'Donnell, who served as Cabinet Secretary to prime ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, said a Leave vote would mean a new Government taking over.
He said there would be gridlock because the majority of MPs and peers would be against leaving the EU and that would make it difficult for the new Government to pass legislation.
Interviewed by Sarah Hewson on Sky News Tonight, Lord O'Donnell was asked about the impact of a Leave vote on how the UK would function after the referendum.
He replied: "I think there will be great difficulty because we'll have this new government who by definition will be negotiating our Leave through a parliament where the majority of our MPs, and it has to be said the majority of Lords, would be against leaving, but obviously go with the will of the people.
"But the question is will they on individual votes, in the Commons in particular, back the new government ... They might not which will make it very, very hard for a new Government to pass significant legislation. So I think we might get quite a lot of gridlock."
Lord O'Donnell was speaking after a backlash by 65 rebel Conservative MPs, who pledged to vote against a "Brexit Budget" with tax rises and spending cuts threatened by George Osborne in the event of a Leave vote on 23 June.
By predicting a new Government taking over, Lord O'Donnell is supporting those Conservative MPs who are convinced that Mr Cameron will have to quit as Prime Minister almost immediately if he is defeated in the referendum.
Earlier, asked by Tory MP and Leave campaigner Nigel Adams during Prime Minister's Questions to rule out a second referendum, Mr Cameron said: "In means we remain in a reformed EU. Out means we come out.
"As the Leave campaigners and others have said, out means out of the EU, out of the European single market, out of the Council of Ministers - out of all those things - and will then mean a process of delivering on it, which will take at least two years, and then delivering a trade deal, which could take as many as seven years."
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