Steve Baker says he will not mount a bid to replace Rishi Sunak as party leader if elected as Wycombe MP on July 4 – blaming a ‘leak of private remarks’ for press speculation.

The Conservative candidate, who has been elected as Wycombe’s MP four times in 2019, 2017, 2015 and 2010, has responded to reports from HuffPost UK and other newspapers alleging that he is planning to launch a leadership contest if polls are right and Rishi Sunak is forced to resign following a Labour victory next month. 

Speaking to the Free Press, Mr Baker said he was taking “one thing at a time” and had been “very clear” about “wanting to represent Wycombe from the government benches with Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister.”

He also said it was “a leak of private remarks” that had “set the story running”.

HuffPost reported today (June 27) that the politician "believes his experience of leading Tory rebellions over the EU, the Covid-19 lockdowns and Net Zero make him an ideal candidate for the party leadership".

Earlier this week, he admitted that the Conservatives' election campaign had gone “badly”, describing its double-digit deficit in national polls as “extremely worrying”.

Mr Baker, who served as Northern Ireland minister under Rishi Sunak, also caught Westminster off guard when he went on holiday to Greece after the July election was announced in May instead of campaigning on the ground in his constituency.

After returning to Wycombe this month, he said he was "really looking forward" to the election campaign despite being "realistic" about the "widely expected" loss of his seat following boundary changes.