The Conservative Party conference: a report, part IV

[Posted 5:04 PM by David Pryce-Jones]

The Conservative Party today took another step forward in its search for a leader, a procedure for which words like arcane and Byzantine fail to convey the atmosphere. The past few days have been given over to an orgy of lobbying, caballing, snide name-calling, indeed of every trick in the political book. This morning there were four contenders for leadership. This evening, after the vote of the 198 Conservative members of parliament, there are only three: Kenneth Clarke, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and the oldest and most experienced of the contenders, obtained the fewest votes, and is therefore out. He let it be known that there would be �a lot of ill-feeling� in the event that his name did not go forward with one other for the vote in December when the 300,000 or so members of the party have the final say.

Clarke certainly has his supporters, and they hold that he would have been able to get the better of Gordon Brown, due to succeed Mr. Blair as Prime Minister some time this parliament. There is a genial bruiser quality about the man. But he has a weakness that scuppered him. For years, he has been advocating the glories of the European Union, the euro, and all the works of Brussels, going so far as to sit on pro-European platforms with New Labour. The Conservative party meanwhile has been steadily moving in the opposite direction, and its membership is now thoroughly disenchanted with the EU, and wary of its imperialist designs. And that is the source of genuine ill-feelings that Clarke arouses.

David Davis came top of this peculiar ballot, but with fewer votes than had been expected. The sense is that his lead is slipping away, that he is failing to persuade his colleagues that he has prime ministerial qualities. Besides, they seem to want a younger man, and so turn to the two candidates who fit that bill, David Cameron and Liam Fox. Something unexpected happened, however. A reporter asked Cameron about drugs, and had he any experience of them. The question, probably an innocent one, soon ballooned into a smear, a rumor, a dirty trick, whatever, that Cameron had something to hide on the subject. He refused to be specific, and the media scented a scandal. At this point Mr. Davis made the mistake of insinuating that indeed his rival was prevaricating. This swung support away from him to Cameron, and probably to Fox as well.

Come Thursday, there will be yet another vote and one of these three will be eliminated. How the Clarke votes will then distribute is a mystery. Equally unknown is whether the members of parliament will vote for the same candidate as before. Psephologists and other experts are sounding like the Delphic oracle. Quite a lot of people in the country are amused, and even more seem bemused.

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