Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who was saved from a tight pre-selection battle by the Prime Minister, denies he threatened to move to the crossbench.

Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison directed the NSW Liberal Party state executive to endorse all sitting MPs for the next federal election.

The move secured Mr Kelly’s future and saved him from a tough pre-selection contest in his seat of Hughes.

There was speculation he would consider quitting the party if he was rolled.

In the first interview since he was saved, Mr Kelly tells Ben Fordham he didn’t pressure Scott Morrison to protect him.

He says he did the “exact opposite”.

“I went out last week and when there were rumours about this I donned the Menzies t-shirt to show where my loyalties lie,” he says.

“I made a statement in front of every press camera, every camera in the press gallery down in Canberra, and said I was elected as a Liberal member.

“I’ve got a contract with the people of my seat that put me there to sit in that parliament as a Liberal member.”

Click PLAY below to listen to the full interview

The Liberal backbencher also insists his party is united.

“On our side, we’re all united, every single one of us is 100 per cent behind Scott Morrison.”

He’s even signed on it.

Liberal MP ⁦@CraigKellyMP⁩ just told me this with a straight face so I wrote it down and asked him to sign it. 😆😆😆 pic.twitter.com/SnNpQM3Pjy

— BenFordham (@BenFordham) December 7, 2018

Click PLAY below to see Craig Kelly give his signature