However, he stated that he would not depart until a review of the rules for the leadership election had been conducted, given the high level of dissatisfaction with the current system.

The contest formally began on 7 October 2005, when the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, Michael Spicer, received a letter of resignation from Howard.

Much speculation surrounded the review of the rules, as it was widely perceived that the system eventually adopted could prove a help or hindrance to particular candidates with strong support in certain areas of the party.

About 100 of the 180 backbenchers that attended the meeting instead endorsed a motion drawn up by the executive of the committee, proposing instead to hold a consultative period with all local associations, but leave the choice of leader to be ultimately decided by the parliamentary party.

Once nominations had closed, MPs would then start a two-week consultation process with their constituencies, MEPs and local councillors to ascertain their preferred candidates.

They would then report back to Spicer, who would assess their findings and inform MPs of the two candidates who had gained the most support, in order of preference.

[7] Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP for Chichester, hailed the decision by the parliamentary party to accept the new proposal by 127 votes to 50 at the 20 July 2005 meeting of the 1922 committee as a "victory for common sense".

"[9] However, other MPs were less enthusiastic about the proposed system; in a letter to the Daily Telegraph, a number of MPs, including David Willetts, Michael Ancram, Andrew Lansley, Theresa May and Iain Duncan Smith, wrote: "It is not too late for the parliamentary party to find a way of involving grassroots members in the Conservative Party’s most important decisions.

"[10] When the results of the ballot of the Constitutional College[b] of the Conservative Party were announced on 27 September 2005, the proposal had failed to gain enough backing.

The Daily Telegraph and YouGov polled 665 members of the Conservative Party just after the first ballot, where Clarke was eliminated leaving only three contestants.

This poll showed support for Mr Cameron being strong amongst the grassroots of the party on the eve of the final (membership) ballot.