Hishammuddin Hussein said today that he will stay loyal to Umno amidst ta rumoured exodus of his party colleagues soon.

"I would like to reiterate that I will not leave the party.

"So maybe that is one less than the 40 in the list," he said, in reference to speculation that he could be one of the 40 Umno MPs slated to quit the party and join Bersatu as did Jeli MP Mustapa Mohamed.

Hishammuddin, a former vice-president of Umno, was speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Bersatu supreme council member A Kadir Jasin had previously been reported saying that 40 Umno MPs will quit the party and join Bersatu.

This after they had reportedly met with Bersatu chairperson and president, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin, respectively, several times.

Elaborating further, Hishammuddin said he, and the other Umno lawmakers, had dignity and would not betray Umno.

"Every elected representative has their own dignity, you can ask them," he said, adding that the speculation about Umno MPs wanting to join Bersatu had deliberately been turned into an issue, despite being untrue.

"Today they will raise an issue which will 'hotly sell' for two, three days, and when the issue is proven untrue, they will switch to another issue," he added.