Rising Tory star won't run for top job

[RogueTrooper]

George Osborne, the new shadow chancellor, yesterday ruled himself out of the Tory leadership contest - prompting speculation of a Brown-Blair-style deal to support his friend and colleague David Cameron.

Michael Howard startled Conservative MPs when he gave 33-year-old Mr Osborne the high profile role just over a week ago. The Tory leader appointed almost all his potential successors to the shadow cabinet after announcing his decision to stand down.

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But his decision to give Mr Osborne and 38-year-old Mr Cameron such pivotal posts was seen as a clear signal that he wanted the younger generation to take control of the party. The speed of the shadow chancellor's ascent prompted chatter in Westminster's bars and tearoom, and his comments yesterday will surprise his colleagues again.

"There has been some media speculation about what I would do, but I am making it clear I will not be a candidate," the MP for Tatton said.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,9061,1488499,00.html

[Kipling]

1. I really hope...

They don't choose Ken Clarke. He's dangerously good at debating and fairly electable.

[RogueTrooper]

2. Ken Clarke is old

and he looks it. I am not so sure if he will compare well against the next Labour leader.

[sweetheart]

3. Its the funny question

Had clarke been in charge of the party, they would have WON this last
poll, i've no doubt. He's much more integrity than blair, and has
the very centrist tory aura about him that blair's stolen... so i
have to wonder... perhaps the torys don't want to be in power anymore.
They WANT to be the party of opposition. Its deliberate. This
osborne chap, figures (rightly so) that they'll not see power in the
next few polls, so why be another william hague... i hope they keep
promoting teenagers and ignoring their quality wood. Heck, they should
just start promoting girl bands and give up on politics altogether.

:-) Howard is our best friend here at DU... he's destroyed the soul
of the tory winning machine for at least a decade... and only a friend
of labour could do that. :-) Good luck to you Mr. election loser.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

4. I'd like the Tories to make John Redwood as their leader

Although Brown and Kennedy would eat him alive. :)

[trebizond]

5. I met Redwood once in a work capacity

And i can honestly say, without any hyperbole, he is one of the most unpleasant human beings I have ever had to deal with. But a Redwood leadership would certainly be hilariously disastrous for the Tories- I'm only sad they're not just going to let the membership choose this time, because they probably are just nutty enough....:D

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. Tories trying to cut their members out of deciding their leader

Tory MPs 'must pick party leader'

Most Tory Party constituency chairmen want Conservative MPs choose the party's new leader, a BBC survey says. Sixty-six chairmen in the 197 Tory-held seats responded, with 36 saying party members should not be able to choose.

Currently, each Tory MP votes for his or her preferred candidate in ballots until only two remain, who are then voted for by party members.

Ex-deputy PM Michael Heseltine said he was encouraged by the support to give more power back to MPs.

The Tory membership were given the right to choose the leader under changes introduced by William Hague. But Tory MPs have complained the move left them with too little influence over such a major decision.

More at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4568423.stm

Rather than 'giving power to MPs', this is about making sure their own party members don't elect another very embarrassing right-winger. It's a shame - the members have come up trumps with electing William Hague and IDS :D

[Kipling]

7. Please let the membership elect the next leader... please...

The average Tory member - a tight-arsed, snobbish, racist, 60-year-old woman in Surrey - would gladly back Adolf Hitler if he had a plummy accent. They'll choose some paranoid, racist, Thatcherite idealogue and the public at large will abandon the Tories in droves.

[T_i_B]

8. Lynton Crosby calls for party to pick strength over youth

Looks like David Davis is still the favourite.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1489588,00.html

Lynton Crosby, the Australian mastermind of the Tories' election campaign, has warned the party against plumping for a 'likeable' moderniser when it chooses its new leader.

The strategist said looking modern was not crucial to winning, and Asian shopkeepers would be won back to the Tories not by fielding more ethnic minority candidates, but by messages on tax and support for small business. His words will be seen as a warning against the Portilloite tendency within the party - and some among the so-called 'Notting Hill set' - of younger, trendier Tories.

Crosby declined to endorse a candidate, but said the public wanted someone who was 'competent, articulate, in touch, someone who can relate to them and someone who is strong. It is not necessarily about having a loud voice.' His words came as a leading Tory fundraiser announced he was 'actively supporting' David Davis as leader, a boost for the man emerging as an early favourite. Lord Kalms, the party's former treasurer and president of the Dixons group, told The Observer that Davis was a 'good man with good policies'.