A backbench Tory MP has become the first to announce he intends to stand for leader if Boris Johnson is voted out.

It comes as the Prime Minister could finally get sight of Sue Gray's highly anticipated “partygate” investigation as early as this weekend.

Police insisted they had not delayed the report into 16 alleged lockdown breaches after No 10 had still not received a copy on Saturday morning.

It is widely believed that either Chancellor Rishi Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are frontrunners to win the top job if the Prime Minister is ousted. 

But it has now emerged one Tory MP - an ex soldier who has been critical of the Government’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal - may take on the challenge.

The National: No 10 has reportedly not received Sue Gray's report. Photo via PA/undated Government handout.No 10 has reportedly not received Sue Gray's report. Photo via PA/undated Government handout.

Who is Tom Tugendhat?

Centrist Tories are reportedly backing Tom Tugendhat to replace Boris Johnson should he resign or receive a vote of no confidence, according to the Daily Mail.

The newspaper said some Conservative MPs believe the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) chairman represents the “best chance for a fresh start”.

The MP for Tonbridge and Malling told Times Radio on Saturday: “I think I’m making it pretty clear that I think that it’s up to all of us to put ourselves forward. And it’s up to the electorate, in the first case parliamentary colleagues, and in the second case the party, to choose.

“I think it’s a position of absolute integrity to say that of course you should offer yourself to the electorate if you think you can do it. Of course you should talk to colleagues and see if you can get a group together, and if you can get a group together you should go for it.

“Now I haven’t been canvassing support so I don’t know if I’d be able to get the first group together – you’ve got to get a group first. But if you could, of course you should have a go.”

I don’t think you should be embarrassed to want to serve your country."

-  Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling

On being Prime Minister, he said: “It would be a huge privilege. It’s one of those questions that I know many people ask and some people, some of my colleagues, are coy about and I don’t understand why.

“I don’t think you should be embarrassed to want to serve your country. I was very proud to serve my country in the armed forces and I got to the highest rank I could so that I could have the best effect that I could. And I was very proud to serve as a diplomat around the world.”

Mr Tugendhat has previously been critical of the Government’s handling of the UK withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In December, he said there had been a “lack of leadership, urgency and adequate resourcing” in the evacuation from Kabul.

After a session of the FAC, he said: “The evidence we’ve heard today points to a lack of leadership, urgency and adequate resourcing.

“It is deeply painful how badly we have let Afghanistan down.”