Final orders Mr Clarke .. its drinking up time ...

So its Tory( sorry conservative ) leader election time again. The party conference has been real fun this year, and has holed David Davis below the water line ( but he's patching as fast as he can) and shot David Cameron to the front.

But what its really done is kill Ken Clarke off. Now I admire Ken Clarke - on election night many MP's like to be filmed in the pub (=bar in Amercian) holding a pint of beer and being just an ordinary bloke ( sorry not sure of the American here - regular guy perhaps ? ). However if you look closely you'll see most of them have just been nursing their pints having sipped the first 1cm ( less than 1/2 inch yanks ) on the self important possibility that they might get interviewed on TV.

Not Ken - his pint is empty and it may not have been his first of the evening. This is because he doesn't need to think of how to spin things - he's just going to tell it like he sees it anyway and as long as his speech isn't slurred ( more than his personal style requires) theres not greater PR risk. ( If you don't believe me see what he had in his glass when delivering budgets to parliment. )

However its this straight talking and the gap between his opinions on Europe and the rest of the Conservative party that means he has to go. Sorry Ken ....

So he's my prediction for the first eviction from the Big Tory house...