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Kemi Badenoch has told plotters trying to oust Rishi Sunak from office to stop “stirring” – but did not rule out a future leadership bid.
The business secretary said she fully supported the prime minister as she attempted to distance herself from the bid to eject him from Downing Street.
Her name is at the centre of intense speculation over who could replace him, but she insisted the shadowy group were not her friends.
“They don’t care about me. They don’t care about my family or what this would entail. They are just stirring,” she said.
But she did not rule out a future tilt at the top job, saying “you never know these things (standing again) until you’re in the moment”.
A beleaguered Mr Sunak is the target of an attempt by MPs, donors and former aides to force him from office.
The donors recently funded an explosive poll that forecast a devastating Labour landslide, unless the Tory leader was removed.
And this week a senior Tory linked to Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, Sir Simon Clarke, went public with calls for his party leader to go.
Ms Badenoch’s name has been at the centre of intense speculation at Westminster this week as a possible “consensus” candidate to replace Mr Sunak – that is the MP who could command the most support across the party.
Asked about the plot on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme, she said: “A lot of people who are going around doing this are creating problems and difficulties that the party, and more importantly the country, does not need.
“I fully support the Prime Minister.”
Those putting her name forward are not her friends, she said: “They need to stop messing around and get behind the leader.
“The fact of the matter is most people in the country are not interested in all of this Westminster tittle-tattle. Quite frankly, the people who keep putting my name in there are not my friends. They don’t care about me. They don’t care about my family or what this would entail. They are just stirring.”
She also warned the Tory party cannot keep treating prime ministers as “disposable”.
She later said she was “extremely” frustrated at the speculation.