Davis sees a new idealism as the way to pep up his leadership chances
DAVID Davis will portray himself as a “Tory idealist” today as he attempts to regain the initiative in the race for the Conservative Party leadership.
In his fi rst speech since Kenneth Clarke declared himself a candidate, Mr Davis will dismiss the idea that he should be seen solely as a Right-winger. The shadow home secretary will depict himself as a Conservative committed to using Thatcherite means to achieve One Nation ends.
“I stand for new Tory idealism,” Mr Davis will tell the Institute for Public Policy Research, a think tank with close links to the Labour Party. “I want to achieve the aims that moderate Conservatives have always championed: a strong society based on a free economy, with opportunity for all.
“To achieve those aims we need the methods which have been championed by thinkers of the Right: decentralisation, less state intervention, competition and choice.
“This is an idealism that brings together the various Tory traditions.”
Mr Davis is favourite to succeed Michael Howard as Tory leader, even though he has yet to announce his candidature formally.
But Mr Clarke’s decision to enter the contest two weeks ago has made Mr Davis more vulnerable. At the weekend, Mr Clarke came top in a poll of Tory members asked to name their preferred leader, although The Daily Telegraph survey also showed that Mr Davis was ahead of the former chancellor when respondents were asked to choose just one or the other.
In a speech entitled The Opportunity Society, Mr Davis will tell the IPPR that modern Conservatism should not just be about “taking Blairism and removing the objectionable elements, but changing the way we live”.
He will explain: “The State has a place, but the State must know its place. That place is not to play the role of the family, or the community, but to help individuals and families realise their own dreams.”
Mr Davis will stress his commitment to the poor, using language more often associated with the Left.
Mr Davis was brought up by a single mother on a council estate and his supporters believe this enables him to speak about poverty with more authority than most other Tories. Tomorrow Mr Clarke will deliver a speech to the Centre of Policy Studies attacking Tony Blair’s presidential style of government. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, another leadership candidate, will also deliver a speech called Building One Nation Conservatism.
A former Conservative Party chairman, Lord Fowler, today backs a grass-roots revolt against moves to give Tory MPs the fi nal say over their next leader.
In a letter published in The Daily Telegraph, Lord Fowler says it cannot be right to deprive so many constituencies of any kind of vote over the leadership.
He suggests an electoral college, where the vote is split 50-50 between MPs and constituency chairmen.