THE gloves came off in the Conservative leadership race yesterday as David Davis launched a thinly veiled attack on the appeal to “image politics” of his chief rival David Cameron.

He accused Mr Cameron of trying to ape Tony Blair and claimed that such an approach would be rapidly rejected by the electorate. Such politics, he said, was for “charlatans”.

His comments are an indication of the pressure Mr Cameron is likely to face in the weeks ahead as he emerged for the first time as the voters’ and bookmakers’ favourite in the contest.

Mr Davis said: “I think if another politician comes along and tries to do a me too on Blair — I’m a nice guy, I’m the straight kind of guy you elected . . . that’s wearing out and I think if people try to replicate that then people will just say — there’s another cynical politician.”

The Times revealed last week how Mr Cameron, whose presentational skills and appeal to a new generation caught the imagination of Tory activists, claimed at a private dinner in Blackpool to be the “heir to Blair”.

Mr Davis used an interview with the BBC’s Politics Show to make a virtue of his own lack of preoccupation with image, superficiality and media manipulation and his refusal to discuss his own feelings.

“What I would rather not do frankly is to go into a lot of charlatanry; I recoil against that, I’m afraid that’s me, and if at the end of the day the Tory party say, well we need a charlatan, they’re not going to pick me.”

The Davis camp, which is working hard to keep his lead among MPs from crumbling, will try to add depth to his campaign by unveiling a series of policy ideas this week on education, crime, drugs and welfare reform intended to show how he could rebuild Tory support in urban Britain.

The Cameron campaign received a further boost, however, as one of the biggest donors to the Conservative Party declared his support. The recruitment of Michael Spencer, 50, one of the richest self-made men in the City, is a huge fillip to the Cameron campaign.

Mr Spencer is the chief executive of Icap, the world’s biggest money-trading broker, who last year gave himself a £10 million salary. He paid £1 million to have Robbie Williams sing at his 50th birthday for one hour in the south of France this summer.

He said: “Here at last is someone with the instinct and feel to reconnect the party with those former supporters it has largely lost: young voters, women and the victims of social breakdown. He offers a compassionate vision of a Britain that will appeal to young and old, men and women. He has a killer combination of conviction and inspiration.”

The support of Mr Spencer, who is worth £360 million, is significant because he bankrolled the appointment of Lynton Crosby, the Australian election guru, who helped to mastermind Michael Howard’s election campaign.

Lord Harris of Queensway, who virtually single-handedly kept the party financially afloat when John Major was Prime Minister, is treasurer of the Cameron campaign. Lord Harris made his £250 million fortune from carpets.

In another sign of his campaign’s preparedness, it emerged that Mr Cameron’s team blocked off “down time” daily in his diary at Blackpool so he could rest, collect his thoughts with his wife Samantha, and rehearse for his next engagement. This ensured he felt fresh when he appeared in public.

Supporters of Mr Davis admit that they arrived in Blackpool unprepared, and poor performances by him at fringe meetings contributed to the swing against him after his lacklustre platform speech.

The coming week should give momentum to Liam Fox, who hopes to pick up the support of many — but not all — of the Cornerstone Group of Tory MPs on the Christian Right, plus some other undeclared MPs on the Right.

Supporters of Kenneth Clarke pointed out that polls still show him in the top two among Tory members and voters at large, rather than Tory MPs, and that MPs’ first choice votes could switch dramatically after the first ballot on October 18, as they did in 2001.

THE POLLS

YOUGOV/SUNDAY TIMES

Details: 750 Tory members since last Thursday
Results (%): Cameron 39, Clarke 26, Davis 14, Fox 13
Previous You Gov poll (Sept 28-30): Clarke 30, Davis 30, Cameron 16, Fox 13, Rifkind 4

ICM/BBC’S THE POLITICS SHOW

Details: 1,000 members of the public, Oct 6-8
Results: Clarke 27, Cameron 13, Davis 13, Fox 6
Previous ICM poll Sept 2-4: Clarke 40, Davis 10, Rifkind 4, Cameron 4

POPULUS/ THE TIMES

Details: 1,500 adults Sept 2-4
Results: Clarke 41, Davis 10, Rifkind 5, Fox 3, Cameron 2
Previous Populus poll July 22-24: Clarke 29, Davis 12, Cameron 4, Rifkind 4

CRUNCH TIME

The coming days will be crucial for the Tory leadership candidates. They will face three separate hustings meetings at the Commons:

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Who: 92 Group (several dozen Tory MPs from the Right
Format: 10-minute speech and 15 minutes of questions for each candidate
Watch out for: policy grillings on Europe, tax cuts and support for families and marriage
Favoured territory for: David Davis and Liam Fox

THURSDAY LUNCHTIME

Who: Contact Group (Tory MPs’ wives)
Format: 15-minute slot per candidate, after which each is asked the same three questions
Watch out for: what interests this audience is a heady mix of real world policy and sex appeal
Favoured territory for: David Cameron

MONDAY (17th) EVENING

Who: 1992 Committee (all Tory MPs)
Format: likely to be short speech followed by questions
Watch out for: planted questions from rival camps designed to destabilise an opponent and fragment his support
Favoured territory for: David Davis — he has easily the most declared support from Tory MPs but must stop them switching

Times Recommends

• Milk: do we need a dairy godmother?
• DIY: the women doing it for themselves
• First double portrait of Princes unveiled