POOLE MP Robert Syms has backed David Cameron to remain as Prime Minister if Britain votes for Brexit in just over a week’s time.

Mr Syms is spearheading a ‘Save Dave’ campaign according to the Sunday Times, asking colleagues to sign as letter saying Cameron should stay on in the job for a time even in the event of a leave vote.

He told the Echo the PM “had a mandate” and was “still in a very good position”, not least because a third of Tory MPs were voted in under his leadership and likely to “feel loyal to him.”

He added: “Even if the country does take the decision to leave he is the most likely person to remain and start the process of disengaging from the European Union.”

“I have spoken to a lot of colleagues and they don’t want an endless leadership election this summer following an endless referendum.”

Rejecting the idea that Boris Johnson might be in the running for the top job, he insisted there was “no obvious successor” to Cameron.

“My view is that he has lots of support and it’s just a question of how to marshal that support so that the Prime Minister knows he still has the confidence of the party.”

“Even if the country votes to leave, he still has a job to do and he’s still a very good Prime Minister. It is not the time to change - there will come a time - but not yet.”

Fellow Dorset MPs campaigning for Brexit have refused to be drawn on the Prime Minister’s future if, as the latest polls indicate, June 23 sees the vote leave campaigners claim victory.

But Richard Drax, MP for Dorset South, has appeared less than supportive of the Tory leader. He made headlines following a heated Prime Minister’s Questions last week where he told Mr Cameron to “stop denigrating our great country because it’s a sign, if any was needed, he’s losing the argument”.

Yesterday he reiterated: “My view, and it’s a pretty commonly held view I suspect, is that the Prime Minister continues to denigrate our county, which I don’t think is a good thing for the Prime Minister to do.”

He said: “What Mr Cameron is saying to the country is we are not strong enough to stand on our own.”

But he insisted that was not indicative of his views of what should happen after the referendum. He said he was “not prepared the focus on what is going on behind the scenes,” insisting all his attention was on campaigning ahead of “freedom day”.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns, who was in Bournemouth alongside vote leave campaigners in Bournemouth Square at the weekend, was also tight-lipped on the PMs future.

He told the Echo: “Every focus is on everything we need to do between now and Thursday week. Everything else in terms of what might or might not happen afterwards is a distraction from the arguments.”