House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom has failed to rule out another bid for the Conservative Party leadership as pressure continues to mount on Prime Minister Theresa May.

"I have absolutely no plans in that regard," she told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme on Wednesday 21 June. "I firmly back [May] for leader – I sincerely hope that she will remain as leader for a long time to come."

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Leadsom added: "I think she's getting back on the front foot, it's been a very difficult few weeks."

The comments came just hours after the Queen's Speech revealed that the Tories had dropped a string of their general election manifesto pledges, including a plan to extend grammar schools in England and introduce caps on energy prices.

The controversial proposals had been axed after the Conservatives lost their majority in the House of Commons at the general election.

With the UK facing a hung parliament, the government has sought to broker a "confidence and supply" agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in a bid to easily pass key pieces of legislation through parliament. But the talks have stalled, with the DUP telling May not to take them for granted.

Leadsom, the pro-Brexit campaigner who unsuccessfully challenged May last year, stressed that it was "entirely hypothetical" whether she would launch another leadership campaign.

Outgoing Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, meanwhile, took aim at the Conservatives' slimmed down manifesto.

"Having dropped everything from the Dementia Tax to fox hunting I assume the only reason they have proposed a Space Bill is so they can shoot their manifesto into space and pretend it never existed," he said.

"People up and down the country are seeing our schools and hospitals in crisis. Proposed Tory cuts will leave our children in overcrowded classes in underfunded and crumbling schools, the sick left on trolleys in hospital corridors and the vulnerable without the vital services they rely on. This speech is bereft of any real solutions to these issues."

The latest Survation poll for ITV's Good Morning Britain, of more than 1,000 people on 17 June, gave Labour a three point lead over the Conservatives (44% versus 41%).

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