IDS will carry on the great tradition of Margaret Thatcher, who managed to be the most successful and popular peacetime leader in the Party’s history without ever watering down her principles.

Ken Clarke would split the Conservative Party right down the middle, re-igniting the civil war over Europe.

Clarke’s bid for the leadership is a provocation. He recently told the Guardian that the party has become too Eurosceptic for him to lead. On that issue, he is right.

Ken Clarke must be stopped!