Tory leadership: Rishi Sunak says he will support next Conservative government

Rishi Sunak has signalled he believes he has lost the Tory leadership race, telling the BBC his job "now is just to support a Conservative government".

Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the ex-chancellor also said he would continue as an MP if he does not become prime minister next week.

However, he did not rule out running again to be Conservative Party leader.

The winner of the contest to replace Boris Johnson as leader is due to be announced on Monday.

The following day Mr Johnson will tender his resignation to the Queen, and either Mr Sunak or Liz Truss will take over as prime minister.

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Throughout the eight-week long campaign Ms Truss has emerged as the frontrunner with her emphasis on immediate tax cuts contrasting with Mr Sunak's pledge to delay tax cuts until inflation is under control.

Mr Sunak has been highly critical of Ms Truss's economic plan, arguing it would put the UK's public finances in "serious jeopardy", leading to questions about how he would respond to a Truss-led government.

Asked about his future plans, Mr Sunak said "I look forward to supporting the Conservative government in whatever capacity."

On the possibility that he might stand in a future leadership race, he said: "We've just finished this campaign. I'd say... I need to recover from this one."

Confirming he would stay on as an MP, Mr Sunak said that it had been "a great privilege" to represent the North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond.

"I'd love to keep doing that as long as they'll have me."

Appearing in the programme earlier, Ms Truss said she would announce her plan to deal with soaring energy costs within a week if were successful in her bid to become prime minister.

She added that support would need to go "hand in hand" with efforts to boost domestic energy supply.

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