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has reportedly urged Sajid Javid to step aside and join his Tory leadership campaign in a secret pact that would clear the way for the ex-Chancellor to become Prime Minister.

Allies of Mr Sunak, 42, have contacted friends of the former Health Secretary, 52, arguing that he does not have the support or ‘infrastructure’ and that they are competing for the same voters, according to . 

The newspaper also reported that Sir ,  and Sir Robert Buckland, Sportsbook software will throw their support behind Mr Sunak in the next few days.

Following elections to the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee on Monday, the new body will draw up a timetable for the leadership election.

However, with more than 16 Tory MPs considering a run, the race for No 10 is expected to be scaled back to only four candidates by next week under an accelerated timetable. 

Meanwhile, disclosed that the new Prime Minister will be in place by September 5 with a senior party source saying: ‘There will be a threshold so that candidates below that threshold will not be allowed to continue.

‘We want to reduce the field to serious candidates and if you can’t get a reasonable proportion of the party to support you, we don’t want grandstanders.’ 

It comes as Mr Sunak officially declared his bid to replace Mr Johnson as he promised to ‘restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country’.

In a slick video, the ex-Chancellor today pledged his leadership campaign would be based on ‘patriotism, fairness and hard work’.

The 42-year-old also unveiled a website as part of a very polished campaign launch — with the slogan ‘Ready For Rishi’ — as he looks to make the early running in what could prove to be a bloody battle to become the next PM.

Mr Sunak said: ‘Our country faces huge challenges, the most serious for a generation. Someone has to grip this moment and make the right decisions.

‘Because the choices we make today will decide whether the next generation of British people will have more opportunities than the last.’

<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS news" data-version="2" id="mol-fa668540-ff1d-11ec-beca-8f2046c2e45e" website Sunak urges Sajid Javid to step back and join his leadership bid