SUPPORTERS of David Davis are to seek a pledge from Kenneth Clarke that he would serve in their candidate’s Shadow Cabinet if he defeats Mr Clarke in the imminent Tory leadership election.

Among growing indications that Mr Clarke will shortly enter the race, backers of the front-runner Mr Davis say he will make it plain that he would serve Mr Clarke and will try to extract a similar commitment from the former Chancellor.

The manoeuvre, clearly designed to put Mr Clarke on the spot, has emerged as all sides in the leadership contest try to weigh the impact of Mr Clarke’s likely entry.

As The Times disclosed on Wednesday Mr Clarke is expected to declare his candi-dacy next month.

Several senior figures, including Tim Yeo, the former Shadow Environment Secretary, are expected to rally to him and there is a widespread belief among Tory MPs that Mr Clarke would swiftly take over in second place to Mr Davis from David Cameron, Shadow Education Secretary.

That scenario was given added plausibility yesterday when Mr Cameron refused to rule out the possibility of running on a “dream ticket” with Mr Clarke. There was gossip earlier in the summer that Mr Clarke and Mr Cameron could run together, with the older man bringing along his relatively inexperienced colleague.

Supporters of Mr Cameron played down the suggestion. They said they were confident that Mr Cameron, who is said to have 30 signed-up supporters, will see off the challenge of Mr Clarke in the first round and be Mr Davis’s main opposition.

They claimed that there were at least 70 undecided MPs who would move to Mr Cameron either before or after Mr Clarke was eliminated.

Mr Cameron surprised Conservative MPs yesterday when he was asked on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme whether they were planning a joint bid. He said: “I certainly don’t rule anything out.”

He added that Mr Clarke was a “huge figure” in Conservative politics. As The Times disclosed, Mr Clarke will make it plain that he will sever his lucrative business links, including the deputy chairmanship of British American Tobacco, if he became leader.

But it is not clear yet whether he will drop all his boardroom interests the moment he declares for the race, or will put them into abeyance pending the outcome.

The challenge from the Davis camp will be designed to flush him out. “David will say that if Ken wins he would be happy to serve him in the Shadow Cabinet and do his utmost to help him become the next Tory prime minister,” a senior MP said.

Mr Clarke has practically ruled out serving under anyone. In an interview last month he said: “The only job I want to do is to be Prime Minister.”

He added: “I’ve got the number of people I require to nominate me and I shall run unless it becomes clear that I don’t have a serious prospect.”

But if he refuses to respond, he is likely to face whisperings that he will go straight back to his business career if he fails.

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