Furthermore, though they plan a robust defence of their record, the rival claims of Stephen Dorrell at Health and Malcolm Rifkind at the Foreign Office - "wets pretending to have dried out" - are not taken seriously. "Despite Herculean efforts, he has not been seen to deliver," is the verdict of one MP.Peter Lilley wins marks for his handling of the DSS, but "doesn't catch the imagination". But they do not have votes, and though the parliamentary party - which has - will be more right-wing after the election, his ambitions do not score where it matters. He is one of the few Cabinet ministers who can make ordinary people laugh.Like Portillo, the Home Secretary Michael Howard has been stumping the constituencies for months, winning standing ovations from audiences sometimes amounting to hundreds. "I hope's he's learned something," mutters a confirmed Europhobe "But actually I think he's sunk. Partly because of his performance at Blackpool last year, and partly because he wasn't prepared to stand up and be counted [in the leadership election against John Major] - when Redwood was."Ian Lang, the President of the Board of Trade, is singled out as a good "dark horse" bet in the leadership stakes, should he retain his marginal Galloway seat. A middle-ranking figure on the right conceded: "Ken is what we need in terms of style: a thug, basically, with bluster and barnstorming skills.

But we can't go in the political direction he would take us." The emphasis is not on policies The talk is of who, not what. Defence Secretary Michael Portillo will seek to restore his image, dented severely by his jingoistic performance last year. None rate Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine's chances any more ("the lion is getting mangy" is a typical view) and few are willing to punt on Kenneth Clarke. His politics seem to trundle down the middle, yet he is acceptable to the right, too."Younger MPs concur, but speak of him as a leader-after-next, rather than a successor.