AMBER Rudd has refused to rule out a tilt at becoming the next leader of the Conservative party and quite right too.

The MP for Hastings and Rye is a vastly experienced politician who has experienced both ups and downs in her career, but she has clearly learned from her mistakes.

Her tenure as Home Secretary was brought to an end when she resigned after becoming embroiled in the Windrush scandal but she served her time on the backbenches with dignity before returning to the Cabinet as Work and Pensions Secretary.

Of course, there is one major hurdle in her way and we are not just talking about Boris Johnson or Michael Gove, who are considered the frontrunners at present.

At the 2017 General Election she had a majority of just 346 which is a precarious position to be in if you want to be considered as the next leader of the party.

In addition, according to opinion polls, Labour are ahead and it is by no means certain that the Conservatives would cling on to power come the next General Election, whenever that might be, or indeed that Ms Rudd would hang on to her seat.

There is no doubt that Theresa May is going to step down once the Brexit debacle is finally resolved.

As a direct consequence there is no point in the leading contenders dilly dallying, they may as well throw their hats into the ring now and make their ambitions known to their colleagues and the general public who vote them into power in the first place.

Although Ms Rudd is yet to confirm whether she will do so, she is undoubtedly a politician of stature and ambition.

It will be interesting to see her next move.