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The Prime Minister is instead being urged by members of her Cabinet to sack Chancellor Philip Hammond – for being too gloomy about Brexit – in a Cabinet reshuffle at the end of the month.

May indicated Johnson could be moved into another role, telling the Sunday Times she would not “hide from a challenge.”

Within hours, however, Johnson’s allies began to rally round, saying he could “just say no” to a new job. They warned that the PM lacks the authority to demote Johnson in the wake of her General Election performance and a farcical conference speech.

One minister told the Telegraph: “Let’s just say she tries to move Boris to Defense Secretary. He’d just say no – what is she going to do about it? There’s a stench of death emanating from Downing Street.”

Another told the newspaper: “Brexit is absolutely crucial to democracy in this country now. If we fail to deliver that, the public will never forgive us.”

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Another Johnson ally claimed sacking him would go down “like a bucket of cold sick” with voters.

Eurosceptic Tory MPs turned on Hammond, saying he should be demoted instead for “deliberately trying to make Brexit negotiations difficult.”

“He has completely failed,” a Cabinet minister told the Telegraph.

“He has not given her any domestic announcements that she can sell. He is miserable, he talks people down, he is making Brexit hard. He just saps everyone’s self-confidence.”

An ally of Hammond claimed he wasn’t “trying to frustrate the process at all,” saying he has made it clear Britain is leaving the Customs Union and Single Market in March 2019.

May is trying to reassert her authority after Downing Street saw off a coup mounted by around 30 Tory MPs who want her out by Christmas. It follows a “disastrous” Conservative Party conference speech, where she was handed a fake P45 by a prankster, she lost her voice and the stage behind her fell down.

She is now considering a reshuffle at the end of the month to ensure she has “the best people in my Cabinet.”

Several Cabinet ministers have made it clear that May would have their support if she removed Johnson, who they blame for “destabilizing” the party. He has been accused of “disloyalty” over his decision to announce a series of Brexit “red lines” on the eve of the Tory party conference, including a warning that the transition period should not last “a second longer” than two years.