Hucknall MP Mark Spencer has openly declared his support for Rishi Sunak to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister of the UK.

Mr Spencer, MP for the constituency of Sherwood, which includes Hucknall, took to Twitter this morning to pledge his support for the former Chancellor.

Writing on the popular social media platform, he said: "As last time, I will be supporting @RishiSunak to be our Party Leader and next PM.

"Rishi has the skills and ability to steer us through unprecedented global challenges".

Having been Chief Whip and later Leader of The Commons in Boris Johnson's cabinet, Mr Spencer supported Mr Sunak in the last leadership contest in the summer. Had he been successful, it was widely predicted that Mr Spencer would have found himself in a senior cabinet position.

However, when Liz Truss won the contest, Mr Spencer was sacked from his post and replaced by Penny Mordaunt.

He was later appointed to a junior ministerial role in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

With Mr Spencer's support, Rishi Sunak now has the public backing of 180 Conservative MPs, more than enough to put him on the ballot paper for the leadership race.

It now remains to be seen if Ms Mordaunt can get enough support to pass the threshold of 100 MPs to make it a contest, she has until 2PM today (Monday 24 October) to do so. If she fails to do this Mr Sunak will be announced as the successful candidate and take up office at the end of this week.