Financial backer brands Howard ‘lame duck’
One of the Conservative Party’s leading financial backers has branded Michael Howard a “lame duck” and said he should go immediately.
Lord Kalms, president of Dixons and a former Conservative treasurer, said that the leadership race should start now.
Following the Tories’ general election defeat Mr Howard said he would be stepping down as leader sooner rather than later as he would not fight another general election campaign.
Lord Kalms told the BBC: “There’s nothing worse than a lame duck leader.
“I mean Michael’s done a terrific job and he’s tried very hard and he’s had inexhaustible energy but once you’re gone, you’re gone and the quicker you go, the better. Every day is now a wasted day.”
But some senior Tories believe that Mr Howard should stay on for a period to ensure that pressure and media focus is kept on Tony Blair.
No timetable has yet been set for the leadership election, with the party currently debating whether the election rules – which allow members in the country the final say in who is to become leader – should be scrapped or altered.
The rules were introduced only a few years ago by William Hague and allow MPs to whittle the candidates down to a short list which is presented to the party as a whole. But many MPs feel they should have more of a say on who becomes leader.
In the interim, Mr Howard is set to reshuffle his Shadow Cabinet by the end of the week. His job will be complicated by Tim Yeo and Nicholas Soames’ decisions to step down from the frontbench and former Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins’ seat loss in the election.
