Clarke 'will get Tories in power'
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Clarke 'will get Tories in power'
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Ken Clarke has wide experience as a minister
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF -->Former chancellor Ken Clarke has pledged he is the "popular leader" who can get the Conservative party back on track for government.
Mr Clarke, 65, announced his candidacy in the Daily Mail newspaper.
He due to hold talks with supporters and will set out his plans for the party in a speech on Thursday.
It is the Rushcliffe MP's third attempt to win the Tory leadership - his pro-euro views were blamed for his defeats in 1997 and 2001. <!-- E SF -->
He now says his enthusiasm for UK euro membership has cooled.
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I shall take a particular pleasure in taking on Mr Brown and whoever he makes chancellor - I shall regard it as a home fixture
Ken Clarke
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He told the Daily Mail the issue was not a barrier to him leading the party.
"I said that the question of Britain's admission wouldn't arise for at least 10 years.
"That's not controversial, it's pure blind obvious. I don't think we're going to have any more silly arguments about treaties and constitutions. The constitution is dead."
Mr Clarke's potential rivals include shadow cabinet ministers David Davis, David Cameron, Liam Fox, Andrew Lansley, Theresa May and David Willetts.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who also intends to stand, welcomed the news, saying it was important the party should have the "broadest spectrum of choice" when deciding who the leader should be.
Colleague Tim Yeo said Mr Clarke would be a match for Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
'Earn respect'
Mr Clarke's critics argue he is too old for the job and reluctant to change his mind on key issues.
But he told the Daily Mail: "At the next election we are talking about fighting Gordon Brown. I am as capable of doing that as I have ever been.
"I shall take a particular pleasure in taking on Mr Brown and whoever he makes chancellor. I shall regard it as a home fixture."
He added that he was determined Britain should be governed better than it had been under New Labour.
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Sir Malcolm Rifkind was foreign secretary under John Major
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"I am horrified by a government run on a basis of spin. The political health of Britain has deteriorated very sharply. The Conservative Party must do something about it, and I am the man to do it.
"The Conservative Party needs a popular leader who can broaden the appeal of the party and earn the respect of all sections of British society."
"I will put the Conservative Party on track for government," he said.
John Bercow, one of Mr Clarke's leading supporters, told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight he dismissed suggestions Mr Clarke was too associated with the party's past.
"I think he's going to be today's man and tomorrow's man. He is the man with the best chance of leading the Conservative Party back into government, he is the candidate that Labour and the Liberal Democrats least want us to elect."
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Lord Lamont
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Mr Clarke's predecessor as chancellor, Lord Lamont, told BBC's Newsnight Mr Clarke must distinguish himself from Gordon Brown and show he embodies Conservative values.
"At times in the past there's been a little bit of the tax and spend, believing in the welfare model of Europe. I think he's got to make it clear that he believes in a world of low taxation, of Britain being competitive, as well as the other things that he's rightly emphasising.
"I think you have to appeal to the centre ground but you also have to have some defining policies.
"Ken has at times shown himself to be too in love with the European social model: high taxing, high spending. It's true as chancellor he made some cuts in taxation as well, but I think he's got to emphasise that as well."
Contest rules
A spokesman for Tory leadership rival David Cameron said they still believed he would "comfortably beat" Mr Clarke in the early rounds of the leadership election.
"Those loyal friends of Clarke will then transfer their support to David in the final run-off, leaving it as a fight between him and David Davis."
Mr Clarke lost out on the leadership to William Hague in a vote of MPs in 1997 and in 2001 he came second to Iain Duncan Smith, in a run-off decided by grass roots Tories.
Current Tory leader Michael Howard announced his intention to stand down following May's general election defeat.
At the moment party members across the country choose the leader from a shortlist of two provided by Tory MPs. But MPs want the final say to return to them, with grass roots party members consulted only on their preference. The result of a vote on whether to change the leadership election rules is due on 27 September If the rules are changed a new leader is likely to be in place by mid-November. If the rules are not changed the result is not expected until the end of the year.<!-- E BO -->
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4199540.stm
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