'THERESA is a bloody difficult woman'
Ken Clarke caught on camera giving withering verdict on Tory leadership hopefuls
Theresa May, Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove are all savaged by the veteran who calls the contest a 'fiasco'
THERESA May doesn't know much about foreign affairs and is a "bloody difficult woman", according to Tory veteran Ken Clarke who was caught on camera giving his true views about the leadership candidates.
The former chancellor had just been interviewed by Sky News at Westminster when he started talking to Sir Malcolm Rifkind about the "fiasco".
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Sir Malcolm, who was also a guest on the programme, started the conversation by saying he did not mind who wins as long as Gove isn't in the final two.
But Clarke had disparaging opinions on Theresa May, Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove.
Clarke on Theresa May
"Theresa is a bloody difficult woman but you and I worked with Margaret Thatcher (laughs).
"I get on all right with her ... and she is good.
"She's been at the Home Office far too long, so I only know in detail what her views are on the Home Office.
"She doesn't know much about foreign affairs."
On Andrea Leadsom
"I don't think either Andrea Leadsom or Boris Johnson actually are in favour of leaving the European Union.
Sir Malcolm: "Well I don't think they even cared very much either way."
Clarke: "She is not one of the tiny band of lunatics who think we can have a sort of glorious economic future outside the single market.
"So long as she understands that she's not to deliver on some of the extremely stupid things she's been saying."
On Michael Gove
"I don't think the membership will vote for Gove.
"I remember being in a discussion about something to do with somewhere like Syria or Iraq and he was so wild that I remember exchanging looks with Liam Fox.
"We were exchanging views and Liam was raising eyebrows.
"I think with Michael as prime minister we'd go to war with at least three countries at once."
"He did us all a favour by getting rid of Boris. The idea of Boris as prime minister is ridiculous."
The other two leadership candidates, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb, escaped the Clarke treatment.
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His comments come on the day Tory MPs are taking part in the first secret ballot to decide who they want to be their next leader, after David Cameron announced he was standing down following his defeat in the EU referendum campaign.
With the timeline for the leadership election, David Cameron will be moving out of No10 Downing Street by September 9 when the winner is set to be announced.
Theresa May is the bookies favourite and has the support of more MPs but the other four candidates - Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox are still hopeful.
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Choosing a successor to David Cameron - the timetable
TODAY: First round of voting from 11am to 6pm. The result is expected at about 7pm.
After all the votes are counted the person with the lowest number of nominations will drop out.
THURSDAY: Second round of voting. Again the bottom-placed candidate drops out, in what is known as an “exhaustive ballot”.
Repeated every Tuesday and Thursday until there are only two candidates left.
JULY AND AUGUST: The candidates spend their summers campaigning. People who have been Tory members for more than three months vote by post.
SEPTEMBER 8: The closing day for members to make their decision.
SEPTEMBER 9: The result is announced.
OCTOBER 2: New leader heads up the Tory party conference.
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Justice Secretary Michael Gove has said he did not want to stand in the contest but then realised he had to for the good of the country.
His decision to run came after chatting to colleagues, friends and his wife about what would be the best thing to do.
And he said the next Prime Minister has to be someone who campaigned for Leave and truly thinks Britain will be better off outside the European Union.
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Fellow Brexiteer Liam Fox said if he is elected he will trigger Article 50 - the formal process of Britain leaving the EU - by the end of the year.
And he told Sky News he would set a timetable of our exit from the EU to happen by January 1, 2019.
Despite him being predicted to come in fifth place when the results of the ballot are announced at 7pm tonight, he said he has experience on his side.
He said: "I think it's important to offer the voters someone who was in tune with them on the referendum and also who has experience on the international stage.
"This is not Britain's Got Talent. This is not the time for novelty."
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Boris Johnson has backed fellow Leave campaigner Andrea Leadsom, saying she has "the zap, the drive and the determination" to lead the country.
The former Mayor of London said: “I think it’s time for a candidate who will embody change and dynamism and a very forward-looking approach.
"Andrea’s got massive experience of finance she understands the whole European issue backwards, and I think she’s got a very positive vision for what this country can achieve outside the European Union.
“We’ve had a lot of gloom, Andrea sees very clearly what the opportunities are, and its time for her take that I up I think.”
His move came as a significant boost to the Energy Minister after she was said to have performed poorly in front of Tory MPs at a leadership hustings in Westminster last night.
Who are the five candidates who want to become the next Tory leader?
Here are the runners and riders in the race to replace David Cameron:
Theresa May, 59
The current Home Secretary, who has been in place since 2010, is the favourite with bookmakers to enter Downing Street and has by far the most nominations from her Commons colleagues.
She was born in Eastbourne, the daughter of an Anglican vicar, and read Geography at Oxford University before starting her career at the Bank of England, and becoming the MP for Maidenhead in 1997.
Sometimes labelled the ice queen of the Cabinet, she is not part of David Cameron’s inner circle, but has impressed with her hard work and ability to stick around in the Home Office – where political careers often go to die.
She is married to husband Phillip and has no children, and is a keen cook – revealing she owns more than 100 recipe books.
Michael Gove, 48
The current Justice Secretary, he was the co-chair of the Vote Leave campaign – and though initially expected to back Boris Johnson he announced his own surprise bid last Thursday.
He was brought up by Labour-supporting adoptive parents in Aberdeen, with his father owning a fishing business.
He studied English at Oxford on a scholarship before becoming a journalist with The Times, and was elected to parliament as the MP for Surrey Heath in 2005.
He was made Education Secretary in the coalition government, before being moved to become Chief Whip in 2014, and after last year’s general election he was elevated to Justice.
Married to journalist Sarah Vine, the couple have two children, he is known for his quiet approach belying his radical zeal – described as a “mixture of Jeeves and Che Guevara”.
Andrea Leadsom, 53
The Energy and climate change minister went from being a relative unknown to a leading light of the Brexit camp during the EU referendum.
She was brought up in Tring, Hertfordshire, by a divorced mother in a terraced house with an outside toilet.
After studying at Warwick University she embarked on a 25-year career in banking and finance, including senior positions at Barclays, before entering Parliament in 2010 as the MP for South Northamptonshire.
She was a Treasury minister before moving to the energy department, and traded verbal blows with her Remain-backing boss Amber Rudd in one TV referendum debate.
Married with two sons and one daughter, she has picked up some big name Tory backers, including Boris Johnson.
Stephen Crabb, 43
The Work and Pensions Secretary has had a swift rise, and is pitching himself as the ‘blue collar’ candidate in the contest.
Born in Inverness and brought up on a council estate in Haverfordwest in Wales, he was raised by a single mother, studied at Bristol University, gaining a first-class degree in politics and joining the Conservative Party after graduating.
Elected to parliament in 2005 he was a minister in the Wales Office, before becoming secretary of state in July 2014, and took over from Iain Duncan Smith’s role at the DWP this March.
He backed Remain in the referendum, and is running on a joint ticket with Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who would be his Chancellor if he got the keys to Number 10, but is seen as an outsider in the race.
Married to a French wife they have two children, and as a keen rugby player, he still turns out for the Commons and Lords team.
Liam Fox, 54
Currently a backbencher, the Scottish MP was Defence Secretary in the coalition but was forced to resign over his friend Adam Werritty’s role as his adviser.
Born in Inverness, he studied at Glasgow University before working as a GP in Somerset and Buckinghamshire and as a civilian army medical officer.
He became the MP for Woodspring, now North Somerset, in 1992, and unsuccessfully ran for leader the last time the Tories had a contest in 2005 – losing out to David Cameron.
A key figure on the right of the party, he is seen as ‘a proper Eurosceptic’ who wants strict immigration controls, saying if we had to lose membership of the single market in exchange for freedom of movement it would be a price worth paying.
He is in last place with the bookmakers and has the fewest endorsements by fellow Tory MPs, and is expected to be knocked out in the first round.
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