Departure from normal ministerial practice adds to speculation of an imminent reshuffle by Rishi Sunak

James Cleverly has issued an unusual public appeal to Rishi Sunak to keep his job as foreign secretary in the next reshuffle, as speculation mounts that the prime minister could change his frontbench team in the coming days.

The foreign secretary told the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday he would have to be dragged out of his job “with nail marks down the parquet flooring”, after speculation he could be moved to the defence brief to replace Ben Wallace.