Rishi Sunak has hinted he could stay on as Conservative leader if his party loses the election on 4 July.
The prime minister said he loved his party “dearly” and would “always put myself at the service of it”.
It has been speculated in recent days that Sunak could stay on for a period as Conservative leader after the election.
That could see Sunak serve as Leader of the Opposition at the beginning of the next parliament, likely on a caretaker basis as the Conservative Party went through the process of selecting his successor.
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Following the 1997 general election, former prime minister John Major served as Leader of the Opposition from 2 May 1997 to 19 June, after which he was succeeded by William Hague.
As Leader of the Opposition, Major appointed a temporary shadow cabinet in which he also served as foreign secretary and defence secretary.
Rishi Sunak has previously insisted he will continue serve as an MP in the next parliament, provided he wins the race for his seat of Richmond and Northallerton, come what may.
Asked directly on this point on Monday, Sunak reiterated his position.
He told BBC News: “Yes, I love my constituents, I love serving them, you know that was my day job and you know that, you know how passionate I am about our life and my home in north Yorkshire”
The prime minister also refused to rule out staying on as Conservative leader after the next election, which the polls predict his party will lose.
Sunak said: “My priority is focused on this election, right, I love this party dearly and of course I’ll always put myself at the service of it, and the service of my country”.
Pressed again on this point, the PM continued: “My priority over the next few days is to focus on winning this election and the choice for everyone is really clear. I don’t want everyone to sleepwalk into the danger of a Labour government, particularly one with an unchecked majority.”
He added: “I want to cut people’s taxes, I wanna protect their pensions, I want to cut migration I have a plan to do those things, I’ve got a track record over the last 18 months on making progress on all those issues, and that’s the choice for everyone to think about on Thursday.”
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