Right, most of you are not British, so I'll give a little background.

The UK has 3 political parties, the Conservatives being substantially larger than the Liberal Democrats and currently smaller than Labour by an equally substantial margin. Historically, they have been very successful but have just lost 3 elections in a row.

The Contenders

1. David Davis
The bookie's favourite, and has the largest breadth of support from his party. Almost certain to get through to the last two. However, whilst popular with the party, he is not very well-known to the non-political and is not very distinct.

2. Ken Clarke.
At 60 odd, he's the oldest, but also the best-known, very popular with the electorate, experienced with the jobs of Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor under his belt. It was his economic reforms that kickstarted Britain in the 90s and Brown copied his economic plans for 2 years into Labour's first term. Distinct with his hush puppies, jazz and cigars, but not popular with much of the party due to his formerly europhile tendencies.

3. David Cameron
He's 39 on the 9th, and has only been an MP for 5 years. However, he is a good speaker and a group of voters on newsnight shown a speech by him gave 95% approval rating, despite not knowing him beforehand. He is perhaps too young and hasn't had time to build up a base of support.

4. Liam Fox
Unlike most MPs called, 'Dr' he is actually a doctor of medicine and used to practise. He has been moving to the far right of the party of late, and is seen as the rightwing candidate. He has a chance, but not a very strong one, although he does have the backing of Stuart Wheeler [sp], Tory donor and astute judge of politics.

5. Malcolm Rifkind
Has been away from politics for 8 years, returning only this May. Because of this, probably doesn't have a chance with few supporters. A good speaker, and experienced, but not a strong base of support.

The Process
There is still time for more candidates to declare. If they don't then the MPs (198) will cast a secret ballot. The man with the least votes will be removed, and they will do this until they have whittled the numbers down to 2. These 2 will then be submitted to the general party (300,000) will vote for one of them.

Personally, I want a Clarke/Cameron final vote. Davis may be popular with his party, but I don't think the electorate would like him. With Clarke or Cameron in charge (perhaps with the other as Deputy) they stand a real chance at the next election.