Boris Johnson is “absolutely” the right person to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, Liz Truss has said.
The prime minister is at risk of being ousted by his own MPs following revelations about parties during lockdown in No.10.
Truss is seen as one of the leading candidates to replace Johnson should he be removed.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme, the foreign secretary was asked if Johnson was the best leader to take the Tories into the next general election.
“Absolutely he is,” she said. “He has achieved an 80-seat majority for the Conservative Party.
“He has delivered on the Covid vaccine programme, the booster programme, he’s delivered on Brexit and he will do a fantastic job winning the next election for the Conservative Party.”
But Truss dodged the question when asked if she was tempted by the job of prime minister.
“There is no contest. There is no discussion,” she said.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is seen as the other main challenger for the party leadership.
On Saturday, Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, became the first Conservative MP to announce they would stand for the leadership if there was a contest.
Johnson’s future hangs in the balance as Westminster awaits the delivery of the Sue Gray report into parties.
Once it is published Tory MPs could trigger a no confidence vote in the prime minister’s leadership.