With the top job in UK politics up-for-grabs after Theresa May vowed to step down as prime minister last month, there’s a lot of speculation over which Tory Party heavy-hitter will seize victory in the leadership race.
But universities minister Chris Skidmore is in no doubt over who he is backing in the contest, throwing his weight behind Sajid Javid before the race has even officially begun.
Speaking on Wednesday, Skidmore said he would not be running for leader – but would instead back the home secretary.
“Sajid Javid is best placed, if he runs, to represent modern Britain and take the Tory Party forward post-Brexit,” the Kingswood MP told BBC Politics Live.
According to bookies, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are neck-and-neck in the race to become PM, with odds of 9/2 each.
They are closely followed by Jeremy Hunt in third, former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab in fourth and Javid in fifth, with odds of 9/1.
Skidmore’s comments comes the day after anti-Brexit group Our Future, Our Choice, launched a spoof ‘Boris for Britain’ leadership campaign for Johnson.
In a bid to warn Labour MPs against backing May’s Brexit deal and in turn “firing the starting gun on a Tory leadership election which will likely end up with Boris as PM”, the fake website imagined a number of the former foreign secretary’s policies – including telling the EU to “sod off”, building bridges to France and Ireland and abolishing inheritance tax.