Dorrell: Expected to withdraw

Heseltine: New leader must unite the Party

Sir Norman Fowler says Dorrell will get a top job

Dorrell To Withdraw From Leadership Race

Estimates put the number of votes that Mr Dorrell had secured at no more than eight or nine and he may well have faced humiliation in the first round.

The former Tory Party Chairman, Sir Norman Fowler, called Mr Dorrell's decision "very sensible" and added that the former Health Secretary would be sure to secure a top job in the next shadow cabinet.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Clarke denied rumours of a possible "dream-ticket" deal between himself and fellow front-runner William Hague reported in The Independent newspaper. He went on to say that he had an important announcement to make later in the day, and it now seems certain that he will announce the recruitment of Mr Dorrell to his campaign team.

Clarke: expected to win first round

Ken Clarke is 'quietly confident'

The Independent reported that members of the Hague and Clarke teams had suggested that if the first round of voting was inconclusive, then a 'dream-ticket' Clarke-Hague paring might be mutually beneficial.

Mr Hague said he hoped that Mr Dorrell would be joining his team: "A few weeks ago Stephen Dorrell said that I was the most credible alternative leader of the Tory Party after himself," he said.

Hague would like Dorrell to join his team

Mr Hague was at Westminster to announce four new members of his campaign team - Sir Nicholas Lyell, David Heathcoat-Amory, Cheryl Gillan and Sir Peter Tapsell. The former Welsh Secretary now has 22 declared supporters.

The first round of voting will take place on Tuesday June 10 and it is expected that Mr Clarke will come top - though it is unlikely that he will achieve enough votes to win in the first round. He may struggle to win the final contest without the backing of Mr Hague and his centre-ground supporters.

Mr Clarke could promise a high-profile job in return for Mr Hague's endorsement, probably Deputy Leader.

There is a view in some sections of the Conservative party that Mr Hague, at only 36 and with only two years cabinet experience behind him, is too young to lead and unite a shadow cabinet.

The Independent also reports that a member of Michael Howard's team has conceded that the former Home Secretary would throw his weight behind Peter Lilley if Mr Lilley were to finish ahead of him in the first round.

Mr Howard's campaign has been severely hampered by former prisons minister Ann Widdecombe's attacks on her former boss over the controversial sacking of the former head of the prison service, Derek Lewis, in 1995.