Davis still pondering leadership bid
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has said that he has yet to decide whether or not he will enter the forthcoming Tory leadership contest.
Speaking on BBC One’s Breakfast with Frost, Mr Davis said that he did not rule out a bid for the Conservative Party top job, but insisted that he always made his mind up about “these things at the last possible minute”.
Mr Davis is widely viewed as the favourite to take over from Michael Howard, who said he would be stepping down as party leader after the Conservatives lost the general election earlier this month.
The Shadow Minister told the BBC: “We are talking about something that is six or seven months away at the earliest.
“My concern at the moment is that we learn the lessons from the last election and make sure that we’re the next government.”
The 57-year-old described himself as a “low tax Tory” and indicated that the Conservative Party is planning to oppose the Government’s plans for identity cards.
He said: “I am a low tax Tory. I want to see decentralised government, I want to see power given out to the people. But what I really want to see is the people understanding that what we stand for is in their interests.”
He insisted that the Conservatives would be in a position to offer voters an “idealistic” alternative to Labour at the next general election.
The party board meets tomorrow to consider changes to the rules government its leadership contest. Mr Howard has announced that he wants to see the current system, whereby party members vote on two final candidates, changed. Many people believe that the choice of party leader should be left up to MPs.
Former Chancellor Ken Clarke is reported to be considering standing in the latest leadership contest, while former party leader William Hague has ruled himself out of the running.
Rising star, Shadow Education Secretary David Cameron, is a favourite to stand, while Shadow Foreign Secretary Dr Liam Fox and Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind have also been suggested as potential candidates.
