Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has ruled herself out as a replacement for Rishi Sunak and backed the Prime Minister as Tory leader going into the next General Election.
Badenoch has distanced herself from the Tory rebels hoping to oust Sunak, as pressure grows on the Prime Minister ahead of this year's election.
It follows former levelling up secretary under Liz Truss, Sir Simon Clare, calling for Sunak to resign as Prime Minister.
Clare argued it was the only way for the Conservatives to avoid a "massacre" at the next election.
Kemi Badenoch claimed leading the Conservative Party is 'not a popularity contest'
GB News / PA
In a new opinion poll conducted for GB News, the two frontrunners to succeed Sunak were Kemi Badenoch and ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
A staggering 51 per cent said “none of the above” out of the listed options, with an additional 20 per cent claiming they do not know.
In a discussion with host Camilla Tominey, Kemi Badenoch shut down calls from Tory rebels for her to replace the Prime Minister.
Badenoch instilled her support for the Tory leader and claimed leading the Conservatives is "not a popularity contest".
Kemi Badenoch says 'no one works harder' than Rishi Sunak
GB News
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She told GB News: “I do support the Prime Minister, if people want to know whether or not I supported Rishi they should look at my actions.
“When Liz Truss resigned from the premiership, the first thing I did was come out and say Rishi should be the Prime Minister and I gave the reasons.
“I have backed him consistently every time because I know how difficult his job is. I see him working so hard. No one works harder than that man.”
She was asked about new polling which suggests that the Tories would have a chance of winning with her in charge.
Camilla Tominey grills Kemi Badenoch about replacing Rishi Sunak as Tory leader
GB News
Badenoch said: “No, it isn't compelling. Because this is not a popularity contest. We are not celebrities. There is a job to be done, and he can do that job.
“And also I think it's really important that the public see that when somebody is in place as Prime Minister we don't just keep disposing them - ‘oh, the polls don't look so great, well let's try somebody else’ - that's not serious.
“How would I know that I wouldn't be disposed of a couple of weeks later?
“You read the language that people use, people talking about installing Kemi as Prime Minister like I'm a set of Windows. These people don’t talk to me.”
