Top Tories Ready To Replace Howard

"Recriminations over Mr Howard's election strategy are intensifying as the campaign enters the home straight.

While the Tories give Mr Howard credit for the professionalism of the campaign and for turning the party into a fighting machine again, they accuse him of waging a battle too narrowly focused on core voters' concerns about issues such as immigration.

"The tactics are good but the strategy is uncertain," one senior Conservative said. Another accused Mr Howard of failing to come up with an overall vision, and for mounting a "Victor Meldrew-style campaign" that was too negative and too focused on the Tory leader himself, at the expense of his senior colleagues.

One Conservative candidate who would seek to stand in a leadership election, said: "This is the most sour, repellent, uninspiring campaign I have known."

Dissatisfaction with the message endorsed by Mr Howard, and the party's standing in the polls has formed the backdrop for the Tory leader's rivals to start jockeying for position." - FT