Cabinet minister Esther McVey has poured cold water on the prospect of Penny Mordaunt succeeding Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, saying she has already had her chance to be leader of the Tory Party.
She was commenting on speculation that Mordaunt may have ambitions of becoming a 'stalking horse' candidate in a Tory leadership contest.
Reports suggest MPs on the right side of the party have 'held talks' about the possibility.
A Conservative source told GB News there are a 'significant number' of MPs who think it would be 'cleaner' to put in a caretaker leader.
Esther McVey says Penny Mordaunt 'had her chance' to become Tory leader
PA / GB News
Another source told the Daily Telegraph that Mordaunt is 'preferable to Rishi Sunak right now'.
Discussing the claims on GB News, Tatton MP Esther McVey defended Rishi Sunak, insisting he will be the Tory leader going into the general election likely to be held later this year.
In discussion with Shadow Leader of the House Lucy Powell, McVey said the Prime Minister would win a confidence vote 'by a country mile'.
Powell urged the Tories to 'set the date' for the general election, so that Labour 'know where they're at' in preparation for the election.
Esther McVey says Sunak would win a confidence vote 'by a country mile'
GB News
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McVey told PMQs Live: "It's right to say there is a handful of disgruntled Members of Parliament, absolutely."
She added: "Penny had her chance to become the leader, she didn't win. So that's where it is, it goes to bed, Penny won't be the leader, it’s Rishi Sunak.
"However, when we did those ten Rwandan votes the other night, we were there for hours. I spoke to all the Conservative MPs and they fully support him, except for those disgruntled ones."
"If there was a vote of confidence in Rishi Sunak, he'd win by a country mile."
Penny Mordaunt is reportedly tipped to replace Rishi Sunak by Tory rebels
PA
Asked by GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope if a vote was required to 'lance the boil', she added: "Why would you do that? You don't need to do that."
McVey added: "He's the Prime Minister and I think today with the turning of the economy, with the global investment that he's got in, £32billion, and Nissan investing here, Google investing here, that's what we want to see."
Powell was in agreement with McVey's point on inflation, but responded: "Let's be clear about it, prices are still going up, they're just going up a bit by a bit less than they were before.
"And we're seeing the biggest fall in living standards ever in history under the Conservatives".