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The former Tory leadership contender, who withdrew from the contest after the first knock-out round, is briefing the front runner to be the next prime minister on the political challenges of running a government as well as how to build bridges across the Conservative Party. He is also understood to be helping the former foreign secretary heal divisions with George Osborne and other allies of David Cameron. One ministerial source said: “Matt is playing a key role in readying Boris for the job of prime minister.

“He is speaking to a lot of people to smooth the way and making sure the transition of power goes through with as little fuss as possible.” Mr Hancock is among a trusted group of advisers who attends the Johnson campaign daily morning meeting to sketch out the attack strategy in the push for Downing Street, the source revealed. Tory MPs are tipping the Health and Social Care Secretary for a Cabinet promotion as a reward for the key role he is playing in building a coalition of support for Mr Johnson. Some suggest the Cabinet minister, who was an adviser to Mr Osborne’s shadow treasury team in opposition before becoming an MP, could be a possible candidate to succeed Philip Hammond as chancellor. One ally of Mr Hancock said: “Matt has been at the heart of the Government for nine years and has a lot of experience of how things work. He is helping out with a lot of the detailed preparations for the new administration.” Insiders say the Health Secretary, who is close to Mr Osborne, is a key figure in Mr Johnson’s rapprochement with the “Cameroon” socially liberal wing of the Tory party. One Tory source said: “The Cameroons do not want to see the Conservative Party to go the way of Labour under Jeremy Corbyn with one faction taking over and claiming they have ‘got their party back’.

Boris Johnson is the favourite candidate

“They are determined to make sure the liberal Conservative wing is still a significant part of a Boris Johnson premiership.” Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne fell out with Mr Johnson over his decision to head the Leave campaign in the run up to the 2016 EU referendum. Tory allies of the former prime minister and chancellor saw the decision as an act of supreme disloyalty that led to Mr Cameron’s ejection from Downing Street. But they believe Mr Johnson’s political outlook shares much in common with Mr Cameron’s approach and are keen to ensure the party is not taken over by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) under his premiership. Mr Hancock was backed by 20 Tory MPs in the first round of the leadership contest last week, one more than International Development Secretary Rory Stewart. His supporters included former ministers Damian Green, David Lidington, Tracey Crouch and Dame Caroline Spelman. The Health Secretary decided to withdraw from the contest because of Mr Johnson’s massive overall lead in the first round. He held talks with all the other candidates over the weekend before deciding to back the front runner on Sunday.

Matt Hancock was backed by 20 Tory MPs in the first round of the leadership contest last week

In a newspaper article earlier this year, he wrote: “I’m backing Boris Johnson as the best candidate to unite the Conservative Party, so we can deliver Brexit and then unite the country behind an open, ambitious, forward-looking agenda, delivered with the energy that gets stuff done.” His supporters are understood to have split between Mr Johnson and Mr Stewart in yesterday’s second-round ballot. Supporters of Mr Johnson have been speculating that Mr Hancock is up against Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Treasury Chief Secretary Elizabeth Truss as a possible candidate to be the next chancellor. Prior to being elected as an MP, Mr Hancock was an economic adviser to Mr Osborne and later became his chief of staff. He joined the Commons as MP for West Suffolk at the 2010 general election, going onto hold a series of ministerial jobs. Theresa May promoted him to the Cabinet in her first Government shuffle, making him the only ally of Mr Osborne to survive her purge of the outgoing regime.

Former defence secretary Gavin Williamson