Kenneth Clarke joins Tory leadership race

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 27. The race for the Conservative leadership to succeed Mr. William Hague has widened with the former Chancellor, Mr. Kenneth Clarke, finally throwing his hat in the ring raising the real possibility of a Europhobic party being led by an unabashed Europhile. His entry on Tuesday compromises the prospects of three of the four candidates already in the fray, and even if he fails to make the grade he is expected to cause a great deal of upheaval with his outspokenness and style.

There are now five contenders for what is arguably the most challenging job in British politics-to make Tories electable again. Besides Mr. Clarke, they include Mr. Michael Portillo, Mr. Ian Duncan Smith, Mr. David Davis and Mr. Michael Ancram. who resigned as party's chairman, a largely ceremonial post, to contest for the top job.

With Mr. Clarke joining the race, only Mr. Portillo is seen as a credible challenger. Both represent a broadly similar agenda of social liberalism, inclusiveness and individual freedom. Where Mr. Portillo scores is in his Euroscepticism which is more in tune with the party's dominant sentiment than Mr. Clarke's staunchly pro-euro line. This is however somewhat balanced by a lingering suspicion among rank-and-file about Mr. Portillo's ``conversion'' to a modernising agenda, and strong reservations among homophobes about his gay past. Mr. Clarke is by far the more experienced of the lot and is believed to be more acceptable to the grassroots activists than Mr. Portillo who remains a ``darling'' of the urban elitist MPs.

Procedure demands that MPs shortlist two candidates, one of whom would then be chosen by grassroots members who run into nearly 300,000. Observers reckon that in all probability Mr. Portillo and Mr. Clarke would be the two shortlisted candidates, and Mr. Clarke is more likely to be elected by ordinary members. While Mr. Portillo continues to be the bookies' favourite, those sticking their neck out for Mr. Clarke are guided by the fact that in the 1997 leadership election he was the favourite at the grassroots. In the event of Mr. Clarke not making it to the MPs' shortlist because of fears over his Euroenthusiasm, Mr. Ian Duncan Smith could emerge as the second candidate on the strength of the Thatcherite vote.

Given his age-the wrong side of sixties-this is Mr. Clarke's last chance to become the leader of the opposition and hopefully the Prime Minister if, as he claims, he is able to lead his party to a victory in the next general elections. He has made it clear that his ambition is to become Britain's Prime Minister, and to indulge in his ambition he is sacrificing his lucrative directorship with a tobacco multinational. However, he has made it clear that if he loses the contest he would not accept a post in Mr. Portillo's ``shadow cabinet'', though he would expect Mr. Portillo to join his ``shadow cabinet'' if the outcome is the other way round.

His opening statement after he announced his decision to contest was a scathing attack on Mr. Hague's policies which, he said, led to a ``crushing defeat'', made worse by the fact that it was ``the second time.'' ``....we got totally, totally crushed.I think we could and should have done better'', he said pointing out that while voters wanted to hear about everyday issues, the party was harping on ``saving the pound''. He promised to take the party back to its basic ``mainstream centre- right'' politics, and suggested that Tories shed their obsession with Europe. ``We should stop talking to ourselves about Europe and start talking to the electorate about the things that matter to them'', was his blunt message.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Deadlock in U.N. on curbs: Iraq
Next     : And the most corrupt are...