George Osborne vows to 'fight for his ideas' from backbenches

Former Chancellor George Osborne has said he will not follow David Cameron out of Parliament, declaring he will stay on the backbenches as a voice of the "liberal mainstream".

His comments, in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, will fuel speculation that Mr Osborne has not given up his long-term ambition to lead the Conservative Party after being sacked by Theresa May when she became Prime Minister in July.

Following Mr Cameron's decision to quit as MP for Witney earlier this week, Mr Osborne was asked whether he was tempted to leave the House of Commons to seek money-making opportunities like a book about his time in office.

He replied: "I don't want to write my memoirs because I don't know how the story ends, and I want to hang around and find out."

Mr Osborne told Today: "Politics is a tough business, but I think one of the things I'm coming to understand is that you can push and fight for your ideas from different places inside the House of Commons chamber, either as an opposition or as a Government backbench MP."