Rory Stewart has said he is in talks with Michael Gove about combining forces to defeat Boris Johnson - but that he wants to be in charge.
Asked about plan on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire
Mr Stewart said: "We’re talking about combining forces. We will sit down and come to a common position on Brexit ”.
A campaign source later added that while the campaigns were in negotiations, Mr Stewart would be the leading man, despite trailing Mr Gove in nominations from Tory MPs.
Mr Stewart's campaign confirmed that he had spoken to Gove but added "he speaks to the other candidates all the time".
They added: "Any team that gets combined, Rory wants to lead it - Rory believes he is the only one with a chance to beat Boris in the final two and to provide the clearest choice."
But Michael Gove's team have hit back at Mr Stewart's talk comments.
A campaign source told the BBC's Laura Kuensberg "that's not happening".
It comes as Tory MPs prepare for their third round of voting in their contest to pick the next party leader and PM.
Five candidates - Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt , Michael Gove , Rory Stewart and Sajid Javid - remain.
Mr Johnson is the clear frontrunner.
But maverick Rory Stewart unexpectedly survived yesterday's voting and fighting to stay in the race,as the party prepares to whittle its candidates down to the final two by Friday.
Mr Stewart also claimed that two former supporters of hard Brexiteer Dominic Raab support him in today's ballot.
The remaining five candidates are scrambling to win over Mr Raab's supporters after he was eliminated yesterday.
The third round of voting starts today at 3pm, carries on until 5pm and the result is announced at 6pm.
