Conservative Party Leadership Race (3rd Attempt to Post this)

Well...here we go again. The Conservative Party (Tories) have once again started their attempt to find a leader to finally displace Mr Tony Blair. Well this has been the 3rd leadership fight since 2001 and does not bode well for the world's oldest political party. Tories have been in decline since their grand dame, Margaret Thatcher was forced out by her own party. It was a miracle that the boring John Major was able to hold on to power for 7 years before Labour swept into power. Well, the past three leaders after Sir John Major were not complete idiots but somehow they lack something significant to dislodge Labour.

The first was a credible William Hague. Once a party celebrity, he gained limelight by giving a speech at the age of 16 to the Conservative Party Conference. He was dynamic, cheerful and gave a decent fight to Mr Blair during Prime Minister Questions. In fact, I started watching PMQs all thanks to Mr Hague's incredible performace during PMQs and how his jokes never seems to stop jabbing subtlely at Mr Blair's inefficiency. Unfortunately he stood for the wrong cause in his election campaign in 2001 (Concentrate too much on Europe) was soundly beaten by Mr Blair.

Then came in an unknown, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, a former Shadown Defence Secretary..His party tour started on an ominous Sept 11 2001 and was postponed to the following date out of respect. Some interesting facts abt Mr Duncan Smith:

1. Has a Japanese Granny
2. Married to a cousin of Princess Diana

Unfortunately, he was not charismatic (in fact look similar to Mr Hague but without his wit and debating skills) and looked awkward in Parliament. His name was famously joked that he was actually 2 person Mr Iain and Duncan Smith (done nicely by Paul Merton). He was soon disposed of and in came another old guard, former Home Secretary Michael Howard. Howard was a good debator and believe strongly in his cause. He did well in the recent elections (managed to cut Labour's majority from 166 to 65) but he felt he did not have the energy to carry on and decided to step down.

So who am I cheering for in this contest? There are the old guards like Sir Malcolm Rifkind, David Davis, Michael Ancram and Ken Clarke trying for his 3rd time. There are the youth contestants as well but most are of an unknown quantity. My personal vote will go to Dr Liam Fox. A seasoned campaigner, he excelled when he was Shadow Health Secretary and proved a useful asset against Alan Milburn. I believe he can rejuvenate the party and maybe make another attempt to dislodge Labour in prob 2009.

Ok, I have stated my candidate and let's see how the contest will unfold in the upcoming months.

PS: I am actually a Labour supporter and had voted for a certain David Lamy, MP for Tottenham