Yeo could join leadership race
Tim Yeo is the latest Conservative MP to indicate that he may be willing to run for the leadership of the party.
The South Suffolk MP has appointed a press officer to help raise his profile in the race to succeed Michael Howard as Tory leader.
He said yesterday: “I have not made a decision [on running for leader] and will not for some time but I thought it would be sensible to use the next two or three months to put forward a number of views. Certainly I intend to go on being active and I want to contribute to debate.”
David Willetts, Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary, is also expected to throw his hat into the ring after delivering a wide-ranging speech to the Social Market Foundation.
Mr Willetts said his party must battle for the centre ground of British politics and stand up for a “strong economy and society”.
David Davis, shadow home secretary, is still the bookies’ favourite to land the job, with former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Damian Green also in contention.
It remains to be seen whether former chancellor Kenneth Clarke will join the race for a third time. On Thursday, he said he would make up his mind in the coming months.
“I’m not leaning either way really. I’d very much like to be leader of the Conservative party. I’d like to be prime minister, but you can’t keep standing,” he said
The leadership rules will be fleshed out later in the year, around the time of the party’s annual conference.
