Boris Johnson has refused to rule out staging a comeback as prime minister, just days before he is due to leave No.10.
Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will be crowned as Tory leader on September 5, the victor will takeover as prime minister the following day.
Speaking on a visit to Dorset on Monday, Johnson would not say what his plans were once he leaves office.
And asked if he would rule out making a political comeback, he would only say: “I think on the whole people in this country are more interested in their gigabit broadband than they are in the fate of this or that politician.”
Truss is seen as the overwhelming favourite to succeed Johnson as prime minister, with polls having shown the foreign secretary is winning the support of most Tory members.
But a YouGov survey at the start of August revealed the party grassroots would have re-elected Johnson as leader if he was on the ballot.
Party rules banned Johnson from standing in the current contest after he was ousted by MPs.
But there would be nothing to stop him standing in a future leadership race.
Rory Stewart, the former Tory cabinet minister who ran against Johnson in the 2019 contest, said the outgoing PM would likely hope for a return.
“I fear we are going to end up with a second [Silvio] Berlusconi or a second [Donald] Trump trying to rock back in again,” he told the BBC.
According to the Sunday Mirror, allies of Johnson are already plotting a way back for the PM if Truss’ premiership “implodes” over the cost of living crisis.
It comes as a new poll by Ipsos showed a majority of Britons want the new PM to hold a snap general election before the end of the year.