Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has refused to rule out running for Mayor of London.
The multimillionaire founder of YouGov, and now chairman of online retailer Very, quit as an MP at the general election in July.
But he is already reportedly plotting a political comeback as the Tory candidate at the next City Hall vote.
Asked about the rumours on Monday, he told GB News: “Look, in politics - I was an entrepreneur, I built YouGov before entering politics - there are always opportunities.
“At the moment, my big focus is I chair the Very Group, we have 4.4 million customers...we sell them about £1.7 billion worth of goods.
“They're very happy with us and I'm very delighted to be chairman of one of the biggest online retailers in the country.”Mr Zahawi held a number of senior roles during his time in government, including Vaccines Minister and Education Secretary, before being made Chancellor in the dying days of Boris Johnson’s tenure when Rishi Sunak quit.
He was sacked in disgrace from his last senior role as Conservative Party chairman when it emerged he had negotiated a multimillion-pound settlement with HMRC during his 63-day stint in charge of the Treasury.
The last London mayoral election was held in May and saw Sadiq Khan secure a landslide victory for Labour and a record third term in office.
Mr Khan won 1,088,225 votes compared to Conservative Susan Hall's 812,397.
The next vote is due to be held in 2028.
