Jeremy Hunt declined to say whether he thinks Boris Johnson is “an honest man” during an interview.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme, Mr Hunt said he hopes the the Prime Minister can lead the party into the next election despite coming udner pressure over ‘partygate’ and the cost of living crisis.
Asked on the BBC's Sunday Morning programme whether Mr Johnson is "an honest man", Mr Hunt hesitated and then said that "talking about personalities is not a helpful thing to do" when faced with a "serious" international situation such as the Ukraine war.
Quizzed by presenter Sophie Raworth on whether the Prime Minister was the best person to lead the Tory party into the next election, Mr Hunt answered: "I very much hope so.
"I hope he can turn things round, because, as I say, I don't think this is the moment for a leadership contest."
Asked if he would consider running to become Prime Minister after his unsuccesful bid in 2019, Mr Hunt said: “I don't rule out a return to frontline politics myself, but I don't think now is the right moment.”
The ex-Cabinet minister has also described sitting at the top of a “rogue system” during his stint as health secretary from 2012 to 2018, and criticised a “blame culture” in the NHS.
Referring to reports of heart attack or stroke victims having to wait an hour for an ambulance, Mr Hunt said: “One of the root causes of that was something I didn’t manage to do, which was to get a long-term plan or long-term funding for the social care system.”
