David Cameron is set to retire veteran Cabinet minister Kenneth Clarke in the next Cabinet reshuffle, senior Tories believe.
The departure of the 72-year-old Minister without Portfolio would please the Right wing of the party, who think Mr Clarke’s outspoken support for the European Union has played into Ukip’s hands. Liam Fox, the former party chairman and a leading Right-winger, is tipped by some MPs to replace Mr Clarke, taking on a beefed-up role as progress-chaser across departmental boundaries.
“It is time to retire Ken,” said a senior Conservative. “The Prime Minister always said he was going to do it at this stage of the Parliament.”
Mr Cameron is keen to rebuild relations with Right-wing MPs and party activists, which were badly damaged by the row over gay marriage.
He held a day-long strategy summit at Chequers yesterday with close advisers including George Osborne, chairman Grant Shapps and strategist Lynton Crosby to map out plans to win back support.
Mr Shapps, who has been meeting groups of backbenchers, promised to convey a message that a stronger focus on core issues such as immigration and welfare reform was needed.
A small reshuffle is expected next month but the big Cabinet changes will come later.
Mr Clarke has been embroiled in a string of controversies that have undermined his standing.
Recently, he attacked Ukip for having “fruitcakes, loonies, waifs and strays” in its ranks, a mistake that was believed to have swelled the turnout for Nigel Farage’s party.
In 2011 he appeared to suggest that “date rape” did not count as a serious offence, prompting calls from Ed Miliband for him to be sacked.
The following autumn he reignited a long-running feud with Home Secretary Theresa May, accusing her of deploying a “laughable, child-like” example of an immigrant who could not be deported because he had a pet cat to make the case for scrapping the Human Rights Act.
