Liz Truss has refused to say whether she trusts Kwasi Kwarteng after he was forced into two humiliating U-turns on the same day.
The prime minister repeatedly dodged the question when quizzed by Sky News on a construction site visit with her embattled chancellor.
Kwarteng’s reputation has been severely damaged after he ditched plans to scrap the 45p income tax rate for the highest earners in the face of a Tory rebellion.
In a second climbdown, the chancellor then brought forward his Commons statement setting out how he plans to balance the nation’s books from November 23 to later this month.
Truss, who was accused of throwing Kwarteng “under a bus” on Sunday after appearing to blame him for the 45p tax fiasco, was asked why she would trust him to make decisions in future.
Dodging the question, the PM said: “What we’ve done is we’ve listened to people on this issue - it wasn’t a core part of our growth plan.”
Asked a second time whether she trusted Kwarteng, Truss said: “I work very very closely with my chancellor, we’re very focused on getting the economy growing and that’s what people in Britain want.”
Truss then made no reply when the interviewer, Sky journalist Sam Coates, said: “Viewers will notice you still haven’t said you trust your chancellor.”
Truss is also facing a fresh Tory rebellion over government plans to raise benefits by average wages rather than the rate of inflation.