David Cameron has confirmed that George Osborne will remain as chancellor of the exchequer following the cabinet reshuffle that is expected to take place after the Olympic Games.
Interviewed on Sky News on Thursday afternoon, the prime minister said: "George Osborne is doing an excellent job in very difficult circumstances."
He added: "He's not going anywhere." Pressed on whether this meant Osborne would stay at the Treasury after a reshuffle, Cameron said: "Yes".
However the prime minister refused to give similar unequivocal guarantees that other cabinet ministers would not be moved, including culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Although Cameron did praise Hunt's handling of the Olympic Games and said he and the department had done "a very good job".
Hunt's future as culture secretary has been in doubt ever since he was heavily criticised for his handling of News Corporation's attempt to take over BSkyB, with Labour calling for him to resign.
And while it has seemed unlikely that Cameron would ditch Osborne, as to do so would be seen as an admission that the government's economic plan was off-track, the chancellor has come in for considerable criticism of late.
For all the rumours and wild speculation, some of it informed, on the impending cabinet reshuffle see HuffPost's resHUFFle blog.