Michael Gove has said he is not the best person to be president of the UN climate summit in Britain despite being widely tipped for the role.

The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster refused to be drawn on whether he wanted to fill the vacancy created by the sacking of the former energy minister Claire O’Neill ten days ago.

“I am very happy with the job that I have and there are many, many, many talented people who could do the job of COP president better than I ever could,” Mr Gove said.

David Cameron and Lord Hague of Richmond both rejected approaches from the government about becoming COP 26 president and leading efforts to secure stronger pledges on cutting carbon emissions. The new