Frantic weekend ahead in Tory race

Michael Portillo: No longer the bookies' favourite

The remaining candidates in the Tory leadership contest are preparing for a frantic round of campaigning this weekend, before Tuesday's ballot to eliminate one of them from the race.

David Davis quit the contest on Friday, making it a three-way fight between Michael Portillo, Iain Duncan Smith and Ken Clarke.

In a move which may harm Mr Portillo's chances, Mr Davis urged his backers to switch their votes to right-winger Mr Duncan Smith.

What I am actually trying to show, and what I think is coming through, is that there is an alternative

Iain Duncan Smith

Mr Portillo is expected to be dealt a further blow on Saturday when the election diary of William Hague's press chief Amanda Platell is screened by Channel 4. It is widely thought to do him no favours.

It is thought she will accuse "Portillo's people" of briefing against Mr Hague and of trying to undermine him during the campaign.

Although Ms Platell's criticism is not thought to be aimed directly at Mr Portillo, it is bound to raise questions of his loyalty to Mr Hague at the time.

The 166 Tory MPs hold their final ballot on Tuesday to choose which two challengers will go before all 300,000 Tory members, with the victor named on 12 September.

Mr Portillo was the early frontrunner, topping the first round of voting, but it is thought his campaign is losing momentum.

'Not optimistic'

It is widely believed that he will struggle to win more than a few votes from the 35 MPs who backed Mr Davis or Michael Ancram, who was knocked out in Thursday's re-run first round.

Up to 12 of the 18 MPs who backed Mr Davis are expected to switch to Mr Duncan Smith, with up to six voting for Mr Clarke.

Meanwhile, at least half of the 17 who backed Mr Ancram are expected to change their allegiance to Mr Clarke, with the remainder more likely to support Mr Duncan Smith than Mr Portillo.

Two of Britain's biggest bookmakers, Coral and Ladbrokes, made Mr Duncan Smith the leading contender on Friday and another, William Hill, tipped Ken Clarke.

David Davis: Supporting Iain Duncan Smith

But Mr Portillo said MPs were more likely to back him as their final choice approached.

"Now I think many of those people have been thinking about this and will now want to concentrate on which candidate has the best chance of bringing the various parts of the country together," he said.

Shadow defence secretary Mr Duncan Smith is continuing to talk down his chances.

"I am not optimistic," he said.

But it was clear he feels his status in the contest had changed.

"All along in this campaign I was the outsider," he told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

"I was the person that everybody said was jolly good, blah, blah, blah, but wasn't going to make it, that there were only the big beasts in the jungle and at the end of the day it would be about the big beasts.

"What I am actually trying to show, and what I think is coming through, is that there is an alternative."