Tories got the blues

The race for the Tory leadership is on with up to a dozen MPs possibly vying for Micheal Howard's position. But do any of them have an idea what the tories stand for anymore? By Kevin Maguire

'Ties off" in British politics can mean only one thing: a Tory leadership election. The procession of potential Conservative runners for the crown popping up on TV minus their traditional neckwear is the clearest evidence yet that campaigning is moving into full gear.

There was an open-necked Liam Fox, the smooth if right Shadow Foreign Secretary, calling for a "radically smaller" state and tax cuts. Spock lookalike John Redwood, all collar and no tie, trumping him by planting the right's flag on £12 billion of tax cuts. Tieless Andrew Lansley, a Shadow Health Secretary on the Tory centre-left, insisting the priority was to improve public services and tax cuts should be limited to whatever was left. Then David Cameron, a Shadow Education Secretary who turned up in the studio without his tie, stamped his claim on the centre-ground and emphasised the need for "genuine care and compassion for those who fall behind".

It all proved too much for Tim Yeo, a leadership hopeful in a tie, who complained some hardline Conservatives were attempting to disguise themselves as modernisers to broaden their appeal by discarding ties. They were, he suggested, wolves in sheep's clothing. "The idea that you are a moderniser just because you can appear on television without a tie is wrong," declared Yeo.

After eight years in the political wilderness, after three successive election defeats for the first time since the Edwardian era, the party and its MPs are no closer to knowing what they stand for. Advertising guru Lord Saatchi, co-chairman at the May 5 defeat, warned more than 70 per cent of voters still did not know what the Conservatives stood for. The number of would-be leadership runners, a dozen out of 197 MPs at the last count, indicates those at the apex of the party remain as clueless as the electorate.

The absence of a dominant figure with a coherent policy programme and ideology is quite staggering and underlines how the Tories remain fragmented and divided. After Labour's second election defeat in 1983, Neil Kinnock was the clear choice. After the fourth failure in 1992, John Smith enjoyed a virtual coronation. In 1994 following Smith's tragic death, it boiled down to which of the two: Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, would put his hat into the ring.

The fourth Tory leadership contest in eight years following the forced retirements of William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and now Michael Howard is an open race which is likely to throw up yet another weak leader.

Howard regrets announcing on the day after the latest reverse for the Tories that he would stand down before Christmas on the grounds that, aged 63, he would be too old to be at the helm in 2009 or 2010. Instability is the result of his haste, requiring Howard to call for calm, urging wannabe contenders to hold their fire. "We have rediscovered over the last 18 months some old Tory characteristics of discipline and unity and a proper and respectful way of behaving towards each other. It is vital that those lessons are not lost or forgotten," he said, traditionally attired with a tie.

The outgoing Tory leader might as well have saved his breath, and instead of fighting Labour and Tony Blair, the Conservatives are engaged in yet another civil war. Anxious to take advantage of the internal struggle, Blair's Queen's Speech programme, unveiled on Tuesday, included 45 Bills with the most contentious measures – particularly Identity Cards – to be rushed through to take advantage of the Tory disarray.

Howard has added to the chaos by initiating moves to return the power to pick a leader to MPs, reversing a reform which gave the party's 300,000 members the say in a run-off ballot between the two contenders with most Parliamentary support. Democracy produced the disastrous reign of Iain Duncan Smith in 2001, who stepped down to make way for Howard.

The means determine the ends with electoral systems and Howard is out to stop David Davis, an early front-runner and right-wing Eurosceptic who has widespread support in the party as a whole, though is distrusted by his Westminster colleagues.

Sir Malcom Rifkind is a grandee from the old days of power who is back in the Commons after an eight-year absence. His best hope is appealing for the votes of Tory MPs as a stop-gap caretaker. A number of Conservatives believe, however, the party has had far too many stand-ins during recent years.

Tony Blair has boasted he could write a rescue plan for the Tories in about five minutes, basing the thesis on a dash for the centre ground. The real problem for the Conservatives is that "Tory" Blair is the best Prime Minister their party never had. Securing fewer seats on May 5 than Labour won in the disastrous Michael Foot contest of 1983, whoever follows Howard will find himself still in the foothills of the mountains the Tories need to climb.

Kevin Maguire is political editor of the Daily Mirror

^The Tory Dozen

David Cameron

Rising thirtysomething star. An Old Etonian forced to play down the silver spoon he was born with, he is thought to be Howard's hope for the future. Promoted this month to the education brief after serving as policy co-ordinator, he briefed both Thatcher and Major before Prime Minister's Question Time.

Ken Clarke

At 64 still thinks he's young enough to have another tilt at the post, despite being a year senior to Howard who thinks he's too old. 18 years as a minister including Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lost to Iain Duncan Smith in 2001. Pro-European credentials are a handicap. Would have to give up a £250,000 annual income from directorships if he won what is a thankless job.

David Davis

Broken-nosed former Territorial Army SAS solider. On the right, a tax cutter and confirmed Eurosceptic. Son of a single mother and brought up on a council estate, the former Foreign Office minister is now Shadow Home Secretary. The bookies favourite. Talks tough on crime and immigration.

Alan Duncan

Brilliant mimic and wit, his mind is as sharp as his suits. Pint-sized yet packs a punch and is economically right but socially liberal, arguing for the repeal of drugs laws. Wealthy former oil trader in Singapore for US fugitive Marc Rich, he broke a Tory taboo by coming out as gay and backed Michael Portillo's ill-fated 2001 leadership.

Liam Fox

Medical doctor promoted by Howard to the Foreign Office brief after co-chairing the Tory Party at the 2005 election. Another right-wing Eurosceptic, he was linked in his college days to pop star Natalie Imbruglia, though Fox admitted there was no romance. Smooth talking and engaging but can be catty.

Damian Green

Long-shot if only because he is a supporter of the euro and EU in a party where promising to shut the Channel Tunnel will still win applause. One of the few Tories able to recite the party's commitments.

Andrew Lansley

Urbane civil servant who swapped Whitehall for Westminster and is a leading moderniser, proposed two years ago that the party change its name to Reform Conservatives. Tory health spokesman, he is intelligent and well informed. Backroom boy during the last election victory in 1992. May be reluctant to run.

Francis Maude

Travelling to the centre ground from Thatcherism and arguing the Tories need to reach out to "respectable" single parents and others put-off by the party's hardline attitudes. Ex-minister from the Thatcher and Major periods, Howard made him Tory chairman and is likely to prefer to be a significant courtier.

George Osborne

Heir to a wallpaper fortune. Made Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer at the ridiculously early age of 33, so will sink or swim over the next few months. Portrayed alongside Cameron as the "Blair and Brown" of the Tories, though opinion differs over which is the Blair figure. Was a special adviser at agriculture during the Tory BSE Mad Cow crisis of 1996 and former speechwriter for ex-leader William Hague.

John Redwood

Vulcan lookalike who detests jokes he lives on another planet yet remains one of the brightest in the Shadow Cabinet. Arch Eurosceptic and very right-wing, he criticised an election promise of £4bn worth of tax cuts as too timid. Shadow deregulation minister, Redwood quit as Welsh Secretary to run and lose against Premier John Major for the leadership in 1995. Stood and lost heavily for the leadership in 1997. May be a kingmaker rather than king.

Sir Malcom Rifkind

Sharp Scottish lawyer and one of the last Tory "big beasts" back roaming the Commons green benches after re-election following eight years out of Westminster. Former Foreign Secretary, he is a patrician Tory moderate of the "one nation" variety Maggie Thatcher tried to banish. Supported Blairite health and public service policies. Appointed Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary to go head-to-head with David Blunkett.

Tim Yeo

Thoughtful moderniser who refused to carry the party's strident anti-immigration policies on his constituency leaflets. Stood down as environment spokesman this month to do a little "thinking" and speak out (code for prepare for a leadership bid). Forced to resign as a minister in the Major era during the "Back to Basics" moral crusade. Yeo was found to have fathered a love-child with an unmarried Conservative councillor