All this talk about Osbourne and Cameron being the Tories Blair and Brown is quite rediculous. When the Labour Party was banished to its northern heartlands they chose a public school boy to make them presentable to the voters of England. The Conservatives need to do the reverse and appeal to those urban voters who have long ago ditched the party. The notion that these young turks with all there trappings of wealth and privililege will appeal to the electorate must be questioned. Modern elections depend upon the leader and his or her story and vision. Only one man currently in the race to succeed Michael Howard can offer a truly captivating story which brings new voters back to the Tories. Davis Davis is a man who chose the Conservative Party and wasnt born into like Osbourne and Cameron, he is the only candidate who can hope to take the party back to government, propelled by voters converted in the 1980s by Mrs Thatcher. The place for Osbourne and Camerion and the rest of the Notting Hill Tories is helping to renew the Tories policies and beliefs ahead of the next election. David Davis is the right man and this is the right time. Martin Hayes, London

An ironic twist to the latest Tory leadership debacle is Lord Hesseltine's assertion that the parliamentary party must be responsible for choosing the leader. Throughout the history of the party, the obvious candidate, chosen by the parliamentary party has either slumped as leader, or simply not been chosen. Rab Butler, Edward Heath, Ken Clark and Michael Hesseltine himself were all obvious candidates who for one reason or another have ultimately failed to secure the Tory party leadership succession. In the current political climate, and in light of the Tories failure to defeat an increasingly unpopular government, it may be in the party's best interests to choose a person whose name is not immediately apparent when considering the next leader. Oliver Griffin, Staines

I grew up a Tory, but I haven't felt comfortable with the right-wing anti-EU reactionaries who began to dominate the party in the late 80s, after Mrs Thatcher decided to dispense with the wisdom and balance the likes of Hesletine and Howe brought to debate. The only chance of even considering the conservative party at the next election is if the likes of Ken Clarke and Chris Patten at at the helm, with a bit of Boris to liven things up! Mark Winspear, Kettering

I am a 20-year-old student who very much epitomises the kind of voter the Conservative party needs to appeal to. Yet even I am not foolish eneough to believe that the tories would necessarily benefit from younger leaders. The most important attribute of a statesmen is gravitas not fresh faced looks. I personally back Sir Malcolm Rifkind he is the only one with intellect and charisma. I also believe his one-nation conservatism will drive us to the centre. Bobby Lawson, Wakefield

I'd love to see Hague back- no one can knock spots off Blair during PMQ like he could, and now he is older and wiser. But he won't stand - so instead, we should have him as Chancellor. Ken Clarke is everyone's favourite, but what about his stand on Europe? I don't think there is an outright winner at the momment, but I would like the top jobs to be distributed between Hague, Alan Duncan, George Osborne, David Cameron and, I suppose, Ken Clarke. Ultimately, though, it's policy not the party leader that counts most. Name and address withheld

Ken Clarke is interesting suggestion but for the fact that he is a year older than Michael Howard (he picks up his pension in less than two months) and would thus be 69/70 at next election. Vernon Simcox, Bridgwater

To appoint Ken Clarke would be a disaster for the party, splitting the right and left. The last thing the Conservatives need to do is re-open old wounds over Europe, when we have finally united over a Eurosceptic agenda. How embarrassing would it be to have our leader campaigning with the Prime Minister against most of the party when the referendum on the Constitution comes? Also, electing a younger candidate comes with risks. Michael Howard's greatest achievement was to unite the Party and then enforce disaplain. The next leader needs to have similar stature and authority. At the last election the Conservatives lacked vision, lacked a "big idea". The candidate with the necessary qualities, who can offer the electorate this vision, is clearly David Davis. Peter Littleton, Birmingham

A new Tory image? Caroline Spelman provides that and a whole lot more. She is the perfect age, being 47 now, she will be 51 or 52 at the time of the next election; she is an attractive woman with an impressive track record in national and international business, as well as a brilliant academic record; she has held a disparate range of Shadow cabinet posts with real distinction during the past several years; she is a right of centre Christian Conservative with a very personal history of involvement in matters of global poverty and debt - a "compassionate conservative" if ever there was one; she increased her personal majority sevenfold at the recent General Election, proof positive of her potent effect upon her constituents. Here, truly, is a woman for all seasons and for all voters. Have the Tories the wit to see it - and the will to make her leader? We shall see. Terry Daly, London

If the Conservative Party are now serious about picking the right leader for a change, they might be wise to see what happens to the proposed European constitution first, keeping Michael Howard as leader for the interim. Opposition to the constitution is not necessarily chauvinistic, and views that might have been regarded as chauvinistic during the Major years are now becoming mainstream, both in the UK and continental Europe. The Tory image problem should be dealt with as a separate issue. If the party were now to select as its leader an unreconstructed "Europhile", such as Ken Clarke or Chris Patten, only to see the constitution rejected by electorates both in the UK and on the continent, it would look doubly foolish. Charles Turpin, Luxembourg

Sir Malcolm Rifkind is the only frontbencher with the gravitas, experience and political skills to defeat Labour. Being a decent, compassionate man (rare in any party) he can regain the centre ground for the Tories. Alasdair Lees, London

In the past three leadership elections, the Tories have picked the wrong candidate. In 1990, they opted for Major when they should have gone for Hestletine. In 1997, they backed Hague when Clarke was the only plausible candidate to revive the party's fortunes. And in 2001 they voted for the right-wing Duncan Smith, while Portillo was the clear unity candidate. One might notice a pattern here - a right-wing candidate being preferred to a moderate; and with the new intake of MPs as right-wing and Eurosceptic as ever, we can be assured that the likes of David Davis and Liam Fox will be in pole position. Only when the Tories return to the centre ground, like Labour did under Tony Blair, will the party be able to offer a credible alternative. Neither Davis nor Fox will want to lead their party in that direction and, paradoxically, that is exactly why they will triumph. Until the Tories recognise that their right-wing image will only ever appeal to a third of the electorate they will remain in opposition. It took the Labour Party 18 years to work out that British elections are won on the centre ground - how strange that the party they displaced find themselves in the same predicament. Tim Jones, Brighton

My money is on Ken Clarke. I, like many others, refused to vote for the Tories without a leader who could round up the troops and stamp on any rebellion for the sake of unity. Had he been in charge, I'd have voted for them. Unless the blue rinse brigade of the parlimentary party can put the Europe rows behind them, the Tories will never be in power again. Jayne Rockall, Haverhill