A former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard has claimed the chances that she will run for president of the US in 2016 are "higher than 90%".
Carly Fiorina, who headed up HP between 1999 and 2005, told the TV show Fox News Sunday that she expected to outline her plans between late April and early May, but was currently putting together the right team.
Her tenure at the technology giant was not without controversy, with many publications lambasting her as one of the worst technology chief executives in history, and her resignation following a dispute with the board over the firm’s strategy.
Since leaving HP Fiorina has advised the presidential campaign of Republican John McCain, who lost in 2008 to the current president Barack Obama, and also ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in California.
If she goes ahead with the presidential bid she will join the Texas senator Ted Cruz who became the first major candidate to announce he was running for the Republican ticket earlier in March.
Under the US system, politicians from the Republicans and the leftwing Democrats must face a public vote before they can secure their party’s nomination.
Other expected candidates for the rightwing party include former Florida governor Jeb Bush, whose brother George W Bush preceded Obama in the office, and whose father George HW Bush also held the presidency before Bill Clinton between 1989 and 1994.
Whoever secures the Republican ticket will likely face the former foreign secretary Hillary Clinton who is widely predicted to win the Democrat ticket, and will potentially be the first woman to occupy the White House.
