Boris Johnson has dismissed as “absolute nonsense” a suggestion that he will quit early next year.

Speculation about the Prime Minister’s future was fuelled after the father-in-law of his senior aide Dominic Cummings reportedly said Mr Johnson was struggling with his health and would leave Number 10 in six months time.

But during a visit to Devon, Mr Johnson, who spent time in intensive care with coronavirus in April, said he was feeling “far better”, partly due to losing weight.

Mr Johnson was forced to address questions about his future after Mr Cummings’ father-in-law, Sir Humphry Wakefield, reportedly suggested that the Prime Minister was on the way out.

The Times reported that he told a visitor to his Chillingham Castle home that Mr Johnson was still struggling badly and will quit in six months.

“If you put a horse back to work when it’s injured it will never recover,” he reportedly said.

But during a visit to Appledore Shipyard, Mr Johnson told Devon Live: “It’s absolute nonsense. I am feeling, if anything, far better as I’ve lost some weight.

“Not enough, but I have lost at least a stone and a half.”

A Number 10 source said the rumour was “utter nonsense” and they were “baffled by it”.