Speaking at his own closed-to-the-press conference in Park City, Utah, Romney reportedly praised the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, a declared candidate for the GOP nomination, and said he would not be surprised if the Republicans turned out to be “the party that has two women on the ticket”.

Fiorina, who has never held office and is widely criticised for her record while in charge of HP, is lagging in polls concerning a Republican field that could reach 16 candidates and in which she is the only woman. As such, she is in danger of missing out on the first Republican debate, which will be hosted by Fox News in Cleveland on 6 August and will only include the top 10 candidates at the time.

On current polling that would include – should he announce on 16 June that he is in fact running – the property mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump.