A SECOND Tory multimillionaire donor has called for the party’s embattled leader to put himself forward for a leadership contest.

John Madejski, chairman of Reading Football Club, said on BBC’s Newsnight that the Conservatives needed to resolve the uncertainty over Iain Duncan Smith’s position and said an challenge would “clear the air”.

His comments came a day after one of the party’s biggest donors, Stuart Wheeler, said that there was an “overwhelming” case for a new leader. That prompted panic among Tory MPs who feared a financial crisis on top of everything else.

Mr Madejski, who gave £60,000 to the Conservatives between March and May last year but nothing since, said he gave money to the party because someone had to stand up to Tony Blair. “But as far as I’m concerned, as a would-be donor of the Tory party, I think it’s very important we have a democratic process in this country, and any Government has a credible opposition,” he said.

There were predictions that MPs could strike when they return to the Commons on Monday after Mr Wheeler said they had a “duty” to do so.

Mr Madejski’s move, coming just a day after Mr Wheeler’s, led MPs to speculate that someone behind the scenes was organising the donors to try to precipitate a leadership challenge. It also led some senior party figures to question why it was being left to the moneymen to make the running, rather than to the party’s MPs, who appear to be too timid even to send confidential letters to Michael Spicer, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, to trigger a motion of confidence.

John Madejski is a former local newspaper sales executive who made his fortune as an entrepreneur from the Auto Trader titles. He made £174 million when he sold his company, Hurst Publishing, in 1998.

Earlier this year, The Sunday Times listed him as Britain’s 129th richest person with an estimated fortune of £260 million.

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