One Tory MP believes previous leadership challenger and ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak will run to replace Liz Truss.
“I am pretty sure he will, I hope so,” Richard Holden tells Sky News.
The MP says that in the difficult economic times, the party and the country need a PM “who has got the economic experience to deliver real stability over the next few years and get the ship of state back on an even keel” – and that person is Sunak.
He adds: “What we need is competence right at the core of this at the moment… and the economy front and center.
“We have had a really tough time over the past few weeks. Even though I didn’t support Liz [in the leadership contest] I didn’t want it to go the way things have gone.
“What we need to see now is competence at the heart of government and particularly the economic vision.”
But while Holden wants Sunak in Number 10, he also promises he will “unite behind anybody”.
He adds: “The truth is that the Conservative Party has got to unite behind whoever is elected to win the next election.”