CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond could replace Theresa May as caretaker Prime Minister to pave the way for Sussex MP Amber Rudd after Brexit.

Rumours circulating in Westminster suggest the Chancellor, nicknamed Spreadsheet Phil for his rather unexciting style, is being backed to replaced the underfire Prime Minister at the Tory party conference in October.

Party members are said to support the idea the Chancellor would then step aside after two years to allow someone else to fight the next election.

Mrs Rudd is still seen as one of the frontrunners to be the next resident in Number 10 despite only holding on to her own Hastings and Rye seat by 346 votes this month.

If the former venture capitalist and journalist became PM, she would be the first Sussex MP to do so since George Canning, who represented Seaford, in 1827.