Boris Johnson could have his eye set on a seat in Kent, an MP has claimed.

Sir Roger Gale says that the former PM might be eyeing up a run for his own North Thanet seat if certain events unfold – but has said he won't allow himself to be "driven out" of the party.

Mr Johnson is said to be considering a second bid for the premiership after his successor Liz Truss resigned yesterday.

Sir Roger said earlier today that he will resign the Conservative whip if Mr Johnson is successful – but said he had no plans to be "driven out of the party".

"My first wish is that he [Boris] does not get the leadership back. If that were to happen, I will resign the conservative whip," he told KentOnline this evening.

"But I will not leave the Tory party – I have been there since before he was born, and that b****** is not going to drive me out.

"I will not cause a byelection, I won't do that to my constituents, but I just will not take the whip under him."

"There is every likelihood that he will lose it because they don't like him, because they know him"

However, the veteran MP added that if he were to resign the whip, it would leave his seat open for a new conservative candidate for the next election.

If this were to happen, he added, the new candidate could well be Mr Johnson himself, whose seat in Uxbridge seems to be more vulnerable.

"If I don't have the whip, I can't stand as a conservative; I understand that, it's just the way it is," he said.

"I would hope very much that a strong conservative candidate could then be chosen that I could endorse."

Sir Roger postulated that Mr Johnson could undertake a so-called "chicken run" – moving from a threatened seat to a safe one.

"Johnson's Uxbridge seat is very vulnerable in a big way – there is every likelihood that he will lose it because they don't like him, because they know him," he said.

"With a majority of over 17,000, Thanet North would be an obvious choice assuming I were to have resigned the whip.

"If that were to be the case, I would certainly have to consider standing against him as an independent."