EU referendum: David Cameron says he will stay as Prime Minister regardless of result

The PM said he was the best person to negotiate any post-referendum deal

David Cameron leaves 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions (AP)

David Cameron has said he will remain at Downing Street regardless of the result of the EU referendum.

The Prime Minister told The Times Magazine that he was the best person to lead negotiations after a Leave vote on account of his "strong relationships" with other EU countries.

He added that he felt responsible for the referendum because it was a policy that he had included in the Conservative manifesto.

“I just get on with the job. I have a very clear mandate from the British people to serve as Prime Minister in a Conservative Government, delivering a referendum,” he said.

Asked whether he could stay in his post in the event of Brexit, he replied: “Yes. I think it's very important that the individual careers of individual politicians don't get caught up in this question.

“It won't be a verdict on me, whatever the outcome is. It's a verdict on the question, but I do care a lot about the question.”

Mr Cameron spent much of last year after the general election jetting back and forth between Brussels and London to negotiate changes to Britain’s membership of the EU.

Though he did not come back with the full changes he had promised, he won the backing and sympathy of some major EU powers.

Whether the PM would stay on after a vote is still a vexed question, however.

Some Conservative MPs have reportedly been plotting to remove Mr Cameron in the event of a Brexit or even a narrow win for Remain.

The issue is further complicated by George Osborne’s announcement in the last week that any post-Brexit budget would raise the basic rate of income tax by 2 per cent of implement swingeing cuts to the NHS and schools.

Fifty-seven Tory MPs responded to the announcement by saying they would not back such a budget from their own Chancellor. A failure to pass a budget would count as a vote of no confidence in the government and Mr Cameron.

The European Union referendum is on 23 June. The deadline to register to vote has already passed. Polls show the Leave campaign opening up a lead.