James Cleverly has warned Rishi Sunak that he wants to remain as Foreign Secretary, amid speculation over an imminent Cabinet reshuffle.

The senior Cabinet minister, who has been tipped in some reports as a contender to replace Ben Wallace at the Ministry of Defence, made clear his desire to remain at the Foreign Office during a relaxed interview at the Aspen Security Forum in the US.

The Foreign Secretary said he wanted to “stay put” in the job, as he joked that he was speaking directly to the Prime Minister from across the Atlantic.

“I adore being Foreign Secretary. I think that my observation is that you become better at the job the more you do it, the more relationships you are able to build,” he said.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
James Cleverly has been tipped as a contender to replace Ben Wallace at the Ministry of Defence (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

“If anyone in the UK is watching, listening, particularly you Prime Minister, I very much want to stay put. I don’t know if His Majesty watches the Aspen conference, but I very much want to stay put.

“It is a job I love… I have been a minister in our foreign department now since the February of 2020, this is the job I know and the job I like to think I am good at and the job I adore.”

The Braintree MP was also briefly education secretary between July and September 2022.

Mr Cleverly has been in his current job since last September, making him one of the most senior figures in Mr Sunak’s Cabinet.

The Prime Minister is reportedly mulling over a reshuffle this week or at the end of summer, as the Conservatives brace for the possibility of three by-election defeats on Thursday.