Boris Johnson 'absolutely' does not doubt Rishi Sunak's loyalty, as speculation over future continues to mount

The Richmond MP is thought to be a front runner for the job in Number 10, should Mr Johnson be brought down by the ongoing partygate scandal.

However, the Prime Minister has praised Mr Sunak’s “sound management of the economy”.

Asked whether he might be worried the Chancellor is after his job, Mr Johnson said this morning: “I think that what we’re doing is working together across the whole of Government to fix the Covid backlogs which, believe me, is a massive priority for us, for everybody in the country.”

Pushed further on whether he doubted Mr Sunak’s loyalty, he added: “Absolutely not.”

“What I would say is that it’s thanks to the investment that we’re able to put in, thanks to the sound management of the economy, everything that we did, if you think about it, all the looking after business throughout the pandemic, that’s enabled our economy to bounce back so well, that in turn enables us to put the investment that we need now in the NHS.”

He went on: “Everybody in No 10 and the Treasury are working together in harmony to deal with the big problems that the country faces and clearing the Covid backlogs.”

A series of personnel changes have been seen in Downing Street in recent days, as the Prime Minister tries to reshuffle his top team and move on from the allegations of lockdown-busting parties at the heart of Government.

One new appointment has been Guto Harri - who worked with Mr Johnson during his time as Mayor of London - as Director of Communications.

However, Mr Harri apparently revealed that the Prime Minister sang Gloria Gaynor hit ‘I Will Survive’ when asked about his future.

According to an interview published on Welsh language news website Golwg360, Mr Harri recalled meeting the Prime Minister over the weekend and said: “I asked ‘Are you going to survive Boris?’"

Mr Harri said the Prime Minister then responded by singing the 'I Will Survive' hit in par.

"We got a little blast from Gloria Gaynor!” he added.