For the love of God, no!

Now the last thing I want to do during an election campaign is dredge up a storm of speculation about what happens to the Conservative leader after the results are out, but I found these comments today by Derek Conway somewhat unnerving.

"While Mr Conway's remarks indicate that he is not holding his breath for a Tory victory, he is happy with the direction of the campaign. A strong believer in lower taxes, he said the Tory right was prepared to accept the party's election pledge to cut taxes by a modest £4bn.
"It is like 1974 and 1979. The electorate weren't ready for trade union reform in 1974. By God, they were gagging for it by 1979. Howard's calculation is right: that the electorate is not ready yet for a radical tax cutting agenda. But I think they will be by 2009.""

Mr Conway is seen by many as David Davis' sidekick, saying the things Mr Davis would like to say but daren't. Now I am far from a Davis fan, but find these noises deeply unnerving. It is a clear sign Davis wishes to take over before the next election, but I find it worrying such noises are being made now, because I believe by far the best way forward is for Howard to see out at least 18 months and manage a smooth handover to the next leader (and preferably not Mr Davis). My big fear is that we see David Davis, who so intelligently kept out of the leadership wrangling in 2003, stimulate another bout of internecine warfare the day of the general election.