Boris Johnson has denied he has plans to stand in the leadership race after resigning as Prime Minister.
The shameless PM was forced from office on Thursday after dozens of his ministers stepped down.
He has vowed to remain in No10 until a successor is elected.
However, his former lover, Petronella Wyatt, tweeted that Mr Johnson planned to run in the leadership contest, although she later insisted she was joking.
Downing Street issued a denial following her original tweet, claiming the the PM had no intention to stand in the race.
And now a spokesperson for the scandal-hit PM has said reports he plans to run for Tory leader once he's no longer PM are entirely untrue.
Outside Downing Street on Thursday, Mr Johnson said: "It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister.
"And I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.
"And I've today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place."
Ms Wyatt originally tweeted: "A source at Number 10 tells me that Boris Johnson intends to stand down as Prime Minister on Monday, in order to run for the Tory leadership."
However, in a later tweet she clarified: "I should point out, now that Number 10 have issued strenuous denials, that my tweet was, er, a joke."
Journalist Ms Wyatt, 54, who had an affair with Mr Johnson between 2000 and 2004, this week compared him to a "dictator" who was obsessed with "his own divine right".
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She soon backtracked from those comments after his resignation speech, later adding: "Politics is a very nasty game. I can't help but feel sorry for Boris now."
She previously believed his ego would not allow him to walk away from the position and instead predicted he would fill his cabinet with loyalists as the crisis among his party deepened following resignation after resignation.
Mr Sunak is the betting favourite to win the leadership race - and he currently commands the support of more MPs than any other candidate.
However, Sajid Javid, who is only narrowly behind Mr Sunak in the polls, last night announced his candidacy.
The other Tory MPs standing to become the next PM include Tom Tugendhat, Grant Shapps, Nadhim Zahawi, Jeremy Hunt, Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman.
Other leading Tories have not yet announced candidacies but could still run.
These include Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt, Priti Patel and Nadine Dorries.
Meanwhile, the following MPs have ruled themselves out of the contest: Ben Wallace, Steve Baker, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and James Cleverly.
