SOBREVIVER

(in BBCNEWS Saturday,21 May,2005,01:58GMT02:58UK)


"Tories appear distant - Heseltine

The Tory ex-deputy prime minister praised Ken Clarke.

Modern Tories seem like they are a "privileged and distant" group of people recruited from the City, said ex-deputy premier Michael Heseltine.

Lord Heseltine said people in their 20s did not vote Conservative because the party did not "look like them".

Things would look very different if Ken Clarke had been made leader over Iain Duncan Smith in 2001, he said.

With the race on to succeed Michael Howard Lord Heseltine said Mr Clarke had leadership qualities "in spades".

Mr Duncan Smith's election in 2001 was "one of the more curious decisions of modern politics", he told the House Magazine.

And he said the Liberal Democrats had managed to attract the professional, publicly employed middle classes.

Current Tory leader Mr Howard announced he was standing down after losing this month's general election.

Ex-chancellor Mr Clarke has said he is pondering whether to enter the race to succeed him.

Other contenders for the Tory leadership could include shadow home secretary David Davis, shadow foreign secretary Liam Fox, shadow work and pensions secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and shadow education secretary David Cameron."


bvta