Kemi Badenoch has played down the prospect of a coup after unveiling her revamped Conservative top team.
The Tory leader said she was not "paying any attention" to reports that backbenchers are already plotting to oust her, less than a year after she was elected.
The New Statesman reported that many Conservative MPs who initially backed Badenoch in the leadership contest have privately turned against her and believe her core team of advisers are "lightweights and sycophants."
According to the publication, faltering Conservatives may seek to trigger a vote of confidence in their leader in November. This would come once a grace period protecting her from such a move ends.
The claims emerged a day after Badenoch reshuffled the senior Conservative ranks, appointing former minister Sir James Cleverly as her shadow housing secretary.
When asked about suggestions of a coup plot, she told the PA news agency that without names attached to the claims, she would ignore them.
"People have been saying that about every single leader, and it's usually the same one or two people who say it about every single leader," Badenoch said.
Speaking during a visit to a housing development in north-west London alongside Sir James, she added that she was elected to get the Conservative Party back on track.
"We lost to a historic defeat last year for many reasons, not least of all, house building, not doing as well as it could have done," she said.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
