Howard's dynamic start

By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

So far, Michael Howard has not put a foot wrong.

Mr Howard ran a faultless campaign

His apparently effortless rise to the job of Tory leader - after having been written off years ago by most commentators - was textbook stuff.

From the first rumblings that he was a possible unity candidate to replace Iain Duncan Smith, right through to his re-shuffle and his debut question time performance, he has lived up to, if not even exceeded, his supporters' expectations.

And where Mr Duncan Smith gave himself 100 days to make his mark, Mr Howard appears to have done it in less than 10.

It is difficult to precisely pinpoint the time when it became clear that the former hard-line Home Secretary was being seriously touted for the job.

But the Tory party conference in Blackpool back in October is a good starting point.

Good leader

The plotting to remove Mr Duncan Smith was reaching boiling point and any number of names were being bandied about.

It was even being claimed that some of the potential candidates' supporters were openly "holding court" in the bars and cafes in the famous Wintergardens'.

Not so Mr Howard's campaigners. And there was absolutely no evidence that the man himself was doing or had done anything to push himself forward.

Indeed, it is the case that, at that time, he did not consider himself to be a possible contender.

But it was at that rally that the talk about him amongst and between politicians and the media changed from: "He's the best frontbench performer - shame be can never be leader", to "wouldn't he make a good leader."

The chatter was that it would be David Davis standing aside for Mr Howard.

Obviously, even at this time, Mr Howard's friends must have been taking comprehensive soundings to see if their man stood any chance of winning enough support to make his candidacy possible.

Equally, they must have been attempting to establish whether it was possible that other candidates would actually be prepared to stand aside for him.

That needed to be pretty soundly established if a contest amongst the ordinary party membership was to be avoided - a move seen as essential for unity.

Party rules

The idea which gained some currency was that the rival camps would allow all their candidates to go forward to the first phase of the election, which sees Tory MPs whittling the number of challengers down to two.

Tory leader created an "elite" team

Once that had happened, and before the election had to go to the membership, one would stand down to hand the more likely candidate the job on a plate.

The chatter was that it would be David Davis standing aside for Mr Howard.

Except that that could never have happened. Under Tory party rules, when there are just two candidates left, one cannot absent himself. There has to be an election by the membership.

So it is no surprise, then, that Mr Davis became the first potential candidate to announce he was not standing but would support Mr Howard.

Whether or not there was any deal between the two men is the subject of much gossip.

It is, however, highly unlikely there was any Granita-style stitch up. There did not need to be.

Once Mr Davis calculated where his future best interests lay, it would have been unthinkable that Mr Howard would not have given him a top job.

Go public

For Mr Davis, his chance to lead the Tories could come later and his behaviour over the past few weeks will have significantly boosted his profile and standing.

Howard had a following wind

Once it became clear to Mr Howard's supporters that he might just pull off a genuine coup, things began to change rapidly.

But it was only about three weeks ago, following pressure from his friends and a host of hugely encouraging newspaper headlines, that he started to consider himself a potential candidate.

Again, the timing and the character of his announcement and the following campaign were faultless.

He managed to look constantly surprised he was the only candidate while never falling into the trap of talking like he was already leader.

Once he stepped into the job, he lost no time in sorting out his shadow cabinet and getting a grip on the party's organisation.

Inevitably some pain was caused with both these sets of decisions.

And his decision to merge health and education in the shadow cabinet still puzzles and is one seen as most likely to cause him the greatest trouble in the future.

Dracula image

Slimming down the shadow cabinet to a dozen was also risky. What he cannot announce publicly, of course, is that he has really created two shadow cabinets.

One, the "elite 12", is really the shadow cabinet for the TV cameras and election planning. The other - which is much more like a traditional shadow cabinet - will do most of the day-to-day donkey work in the Commons.

Not since Tony Blair was elected as Labour leader, has a party boss had such a strong following wind.

Finally, of course, he showed Tony Blair what a real question time challenge feels like.

It was the first time the prime minister has faced a man capable of knocking him back on his heels during the weekly bout. And there will be more to come.

Mr Howard has even moved to spike the jibes about his Dracula image, by poking fun at it himself while insisting he has mellowed and that his hard-right edges have been shaved off.

Following wind

But his success is the result of more than just careful, precision planning.

Not since Tony Blair was elected as Labour leader, has a party boss had such a strong following wind.

His own party suddenly snapped out of its self-destructive phase, undoubtedly spurred on by the realisation that it might be heading for a third general election humiliation.

But the media has also played its part by desperately wanting to see an effective, story-producing Opposition.

Michael Howard looked like he was up to the job so, almost irrespective of political leanings, he has been encouraged by the media.

But no political honeymoon lasts forever - just ask Tony Blair.

Mr Howard will be hoping that his, along with his own efforts, will at least power him into the next general election campaign.