Tussle for Tory party leadership intensifies

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 14. A ``civil war'' has broken out in the Tory party as it struggles to find a successor to the unlamented Mr. William Hague, reviving memories of the 1997 ``bloody'' leadership crisis from which it never quite recovered. And it is already being said that whoever is elected would be presiding over a deeply divided party, riven as much by personal feuds as by differences over policy.

In less than a week, the talk of ``unity'', heard on the morning of the party's election defeat, has evaporated and the much- trumpeted Left coalition intended to be formed by Mr. Michael Portillo, Mr. Kenneth Clarke and Mr. Michael Heseltine has collapsed. Mr. Portillo has already announced his candidature after failing to reach an agreement with Mr. Clarke on the party's line on single currency which the former Chancellor vehemently opposes.

According to The Times, Mr. Clarke was apparently put off by the ``patronising and arrogant'' attitude of Mr. Portillo and his supporters. ``Ken is a big beast and he did not like it at all'', the paper quoted Mr. Clarke's friends as saying. Mr. Portillo's attempt to mollify him and other big- time Tory Europhiles by promising a more open approach to the issue has not impressed Mr. Clarke who made it clear today that he was very much his own man- and might join the race himself.

He said he had not given up his desire to lead the party but he did not wish to be rushed into a decision. He would decide after taking ``more soundings'', he said amid conflicting signals from his supporters and friends. While some continued to urge him to contest, others were less enthusiastic and favoured a single Left candidate to prevent a division in the anti-Right vote. Their view was that since Mr. Portillo had already announced his candidature, they would rather that Mr Clarke back him than stand against him, splitting the Left platform. The former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Michael Heseltine, who had initially urged Mr. Clarke to contest ``appeared to change tack yesterday'', The Guardian said. He said in an interview that there were ``many ways'' in which Mr. Clarke could ``play an active role''. ``Whether that means standing is for him to decide'', he said. With most of the shadow cabinet members backing Mr. Portillo and the bookies declaring him a front-runner there was some speculation if Mr. Clarke would take a plunge. Having the leadership election once, he might not risk another defeat.

The picture on the Right was even more dismal, and the only ``uniting'' factor was their distaste for Mr. Portillo's liberal agenda, and his gay past of which he has often tended to make a virtue. Reports suggest widespread ``homophobia'' in Tory rank- and-file with some grassroots activists, interviewed on BBC, even sounding wary of the fact that he is not a ``family man'' - that he doesn't have children.

But beyond this, nothing else unites the Tory Right, and there at least three contenders. The shadow home secretary, Ms. Ann Widdecombe, who was the first to test the waters and was at one point seen as a leading candidate on the Right, faces a challenge from the shadow defence secretary, Mr. Ian Duncan Smith, described as a ``normal family man'' by a senior Tory leader.

He said today that he was still consulting his supporters, and that included Lady Thatcher who, despite being a spent force, still has clout at the grassroots. Another likely contender on the Right is Mr David Davis, though one newspaper said that he would not like to be seen as splitting the anti- Portillo vote.

As the field widens, the political temperature in the party is expected to rise, and as had been predicted, this election promises to be far more exciting than the one Britain has just been through.

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