Turning on what I thought was the Today programme on Monday, I heard the voice of Kenneth Clarke, talking about Dizzy Gillespie. Another shameless plug by the BBC, I thought, for the man they are always trying to make Tory leader. Perhaps I was right, but the immediate cause was that there was no Today programme, due to a 24-hour strike, so Ken was, in effect, a scab. Although it is Michael Howard who has often been compared to a vampire, it is the older Mr Clarke who will not lie down and die. If he stands in the coming contest, it will be his third attempt. The possibly unintended effect of the proposed Conservative leadership rule changes will be to benefit Mr Clarke, by returning the main power of selection to MPs. They tend not to understand the depth of the cultural problem which their party still faces and so they favour what they irritatingly call ‘big beasts’, and Mr Clarke, of course, is the biggest. If a French ‘No’ vote on Sunday kills off our own referendum on the European constitution, many will argue (mistakenly) that the European issue is dead and so Mr Clarke will no longer divide his own party. My suspicion is that Mr Clarke is more well known by potential Conservative voters than he is liked. People nowadays do not like fat politicians; they don’t like MPs taking money from tobacco companies; he displays a certain jovial discourtesy and indiscipline which MPs enjoy, but which many voters regard as part of an obsolete, 20th-century political arrogance. If Mr Clarke became leader, even under the existing rules, he would drive thousands of voters in key marginals into the arms of Ukip. If he were foisted on the membership by a coup in the party’s constitution, he would provoke a full-blown crisis.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in