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Clarke: Video Star
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Clarke releases promotional video
Kenneth Clarke's campaign team are releasing a promotional video, to be sent to more than 1,000 Tory MPs, parliamentary and Euro-constituency chairmen, and peers. Sources said the video, which was kept secret until Sunday, was a serious treatment of the subject, and included statements from Mr Clarke himself, and from supporters.
News of the video came at the same time as former Tory cabinet minister Sir Norman Fowler declared his support for an " unflappable" Mr Clarke.
Sir Norman's declaration marked a further stepping up of the initially
low-profile Clarke campaign. Sir Norman, former deputy prime minister Michael
Heseltine, former Cabinet minister Douglas Hurd, and former Confederation of British Industry president Sir Bryan Nicholson all appear on the video.
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Fowler: Clarke an exceptional colleague
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Sir Norman, MP for Sutton Coldfield and a former Tory party chairman, said in
a statement he backed Mr Clarke because he was a proven and authoritative
performer in the Commons. Secondly, Mr Clarke stood for "a One Nation Conservative Party" and could win back voters with his "undoubted appeal to the middle ground". Sir Norman said a third reason for his support was his experience of working with Mr Clarke for six years at the Transport Department and the old Department of Health and Social Security.
"I can only say that he was a quite exceptional colleague. He was
consistently loyal. He was tough when it was necessary to be tough. Above all, he has one of the best temperaments of any politician today. He
is entirely unflappable. In short, he has all the qualities that a leader of the Conservative party needs. He deserves our support."
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