Nadhim Zahawi has said he would give Boris Johnson a cabinet job if he becomes Tory leader - less than a week after telling him to resign as prime minister.
The chancellor - one of eight MPs to make it to the first round of the Tory leadership contest - said he would be happy to offer his “friend” a frontbench post.
He told LBC: “If [Johnson] wishes to serve in cabinet then I would certainly offer him a job.
“He has been probably the most consequential Prime Minster of his generation.”
Zahawi said the outgoing PM PM had “delivered Brexit” and “got us through a global pandemic”.
But his remarks struck a very different tone from the letter he published last Thursday calling on Johnson to quit Number 10.
It said: “No one will forget getting Brexit done, keeping a dangerous anti-semite out of Number 10, our handling of covid and our support for Ukraine in its hour of need.
“But the country deserves a government that is not only stable, but which acts with integrity.
“Prime minister, you know in your heart what the right thing to do is, and go now.”