BORIS Johnson has manoeuvred back into line over the prospect of a leadership challenge and on whether or not the public sector pay cap should be scrapped.

The foreign secretary, tipped by some as the favourite to succeed Theresa May when she goes or is pushed, was adamant there would not be a leadership vacancy "for a very long time".

Heaping praise on his party leader, Mr Johnson said the Prime Minister had "put things back together and got the show back on the road" after a difficult election. He congratulated her on showing "unbelievable grace and steel" in tough circumstances.

“She is delivering a stable government as she said she would and we are getting on with it," he declared.

Calling for an end to the speculation about her future, the secretary of state said: "The last thing people want is any more of this kind of nonsense. They want to see a long period of stability and calm and progress for the British people."

Mr Johnson had also let it be known through allies that he, like several cabinet colleagues, believed it was time to scrap the one per cent pay cap for more than five million British workers.

But after being criticised for “freelancing,” the London MP appeared to have got behind Mrs May and Phillip Hammond, the Chancellor, who have defended the pay cap, stressing how it was still necessary to reduce the budget deficit and balance the nation’s books. A one per cent rise for public sector workers is estimated to cost the taxpayer £1.5 billion.

Mr Johnson made clear there was a need to be "fiscally sensible and responsible" in the approach to public sector pay in the latest sign the Government was not about to embark on a spending spree.

Echoing the PM and Chancellor, he said a balance had to be struck between pay rises and fiscal consolidation.

"What we believe is that you can't endlessly borrow, you can't endlessly spend. The country has done well to cut the deficit by three quarters in the way that we have and that leads to huge economic benefits; more jobs, more business confidence.

"You can have cheaper interest rates, you can do all sorts of things that matter to people."

He added: "It is very, very important that you manage your economy sensibly and you don't just go for a crazy Corbynite splurge," he added.