Clarke accuses his opponents

Clarke smells a leadership plot

		By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

With the first ballot in the Tory election being held on Tuesday, there is a scent of panic over the Ken Clarke camp.

The former Chancellor has claimed there is a right wing plot to stop him winning through to the final round, which will see all party members choosing between the remaining two candidates.

His comments came as surveys suggested he was trailing third in the race of five.

His basic allegation is that right wingers from some of his rivals' camps are conniving to force him out of the contest in the early stages.

Portillos still the front runner

His supporters also fear that, whoever is forced out of the first ballot - likely to be Michael Ancram or David Davis - their backers will overwhelmingly switch to the remaining rival candidates - Iain Duncan Smith and front runner Michael Portillo.

Mr Clarke believes, if he gets through to the final face-off, he will win because he is regularly seen as the most popular candidate amongst the grass roots.

And, with more than a hint of arrogance, he is suggesting it would actually be undemocratic if the Tory MPs did not put him through to the final round - which is certain to be against Michael Portillo.

Civil war

His argument here is that only such a contest between the left, Euroenthusiast wing and the right, Eurosceptic camp in the party will finally end its civil war.

Clarke thinks grassroots will back him

He knows the overwhelming majority of the parliamentary party are not his natural supporters so he is basically pleading with them to ignore their political beliefs and go for him because it would be democratic.

He also uses the argument that only he and Mr Portillo are potential prime ministers, so voting for anybody else would either be a waste of time or political suicide.

What many fear, however, is that there is also an underlying threat in his comments and that, like Ann Widdecombe, if he loses he will continue to whip up trouble from the backbenches.

He may continue to claim a "stitch-up" and insist the party has been denied a real choice.

Others believe that, is he loses, he will finally have to accept his days are over.

His supporters deny all of this and simply claim they want to see a straightforward contest between the best two candidates.

But, whatever the result of the first round, it is virtually certain to lead to even more backbiting in a contest that has already seen more than its fair share.