Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said he hopes and believes Theresa May will last as Prime Minister, as he insisted he is “absolutely not” interested in the job.
Speaking to Australia’s Fairfax Media ahead of a visit to Sydney for an annual summit of UK and Australian defence and foreign ministers on Thursday, Sir Michael insisted that Mrs May was being “loyally supported at the moment” by Conservative colleagues.
The former Conservative deputy chairman is sometimes mentioned as a possible future leadership candidate, who could bridge party divides over Europe and be seen as a “safe pair of hands”.
Sir Michael Fallon has no interest in becoming Prime Minister (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
But asked whether he had ever contemplated a bid for the leadership, he replied: “Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I’ve never considered that.
“We have a Prime Minister and I want to see her, as she is doing, being loyally supported at the moment.”
In the interview, published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Sir Michael rejected suggestions that Mrs May’s minority administration was unstable.
And asked whether Mrs May herself would last as PM, he replied: ” I hope so, absolutely. She led us into the election and we didn’t get the majority she wanted but she won the most seats, she won the most votes. I think she will last.”
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