Nicky Morgan to consider standing for Conservative leadership when David

Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne, mayor of London Boris Johnson and home secretary Theresa May are all also widely expected to have a go at the Conservative leadership when Cameron steps down.

But the London Mayor remains way out in front among the wider public, securing 27% of people’s support compared to Mrs May’s 17% and Mr Osborne’s 15%.

However, all of them have refused to say whether or not they want to lead the party after Mr Cameron’s departure.

The comments signalled the unoffical start of the contest to be the next Tory leader, with Mr Cameron naming likely successors.

Mr Osborne is the heavy favourite to replace Mr Cameron as Prime Minister and was recently judged to have taken a bloated delegation on a trip to China in order to look “prime ministerial”.

However, the Chancellor is more popular than Mr Johnson among Conservative members.

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos MORI, said: “There is a striking divide in views of George Osborne, reflecting his position at the centre of political debate”. I saw it in the papers like most other people.

George Osborne’s dream of being the next Prime Minister suffered a crushing blow yesterday as two separate polls confirmed he is hated by the public.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan last night revealed she is ready to throw her hat into the ring for the leadership.

Morgan, who has a young son, told The Spectator that whether or not she stands for the top job will “depend on family”.

Outlining what her pitch for the Conservative leadership would be, she told the magazine: “I represent a part of the country that I think is incredibly down-to-earth. I’d be saying this if I was male or female – in the sense that being leader of the party is so all-consuming, putting such a pressure on family relationships”.

On Thursday, the Conservative Party talked down suggestions that Cameron would leave his current term early, after a report in the right-wing Spectator magazine said he was considering stepping down in the spring of 2019 ahead of the general election in 2020.

That is significant because when it comes to choosing the next Tory leader, it will come down to a straight vote of Conservative members between the two candidates chosen to contest the leadership election by the party’s MPs.

But Downing Street insisted it was pure speculation.

When David Cameron announced that he wouldn’t serve a third term, he made it inevitable that Westminster would spend much of his second term wondering about who would succeed him.

Asked if he would fight the 2020 election, he said: “No, I’m standing for a full second term”.