A NORTH Yorkshire MP will play a key role in who becomes the next Conservative leader, the Evening Press can reveal.

John Greenway retained his place on the executive of the Tory's 1922 committee of backbench MPs, which is overseeing the shake-up the party's leadership selection system.

The Ryedale MP - who survived the bloodbath which saw eight of the 12 MPs on the committee replaced - will now focus on drawing up the rules on how to choose Michael Howard's successor.

Mr Howard announced he was standing down the morning after the Tories suffered a better-than-anticipated 67-seat defeat in this month's General Election.

Under the current rules - introduced by William Hague after the 2001 election defeat - Tory MPs whittle the choice to two leadership candidates before party members across the UK have the final say.

But there were concerns that activists are out of touch with the electorate, explaining the disastrous decision to choose Iain Duncan Smith as leader instead of Ken Clarke.

New rules will almost certainly give Tory MPs more say over the final decision. The new leader could be selected via a three-stage process, said Mr Greenway.

He said this could involve nominated candidates being assessed by the 1922 committee, who would then draw up a shortlist. Then activists would get a say on their favoured candidate.

But Mr Greenway, who is not yet prepared to say who he believed should become Tory leader, is convinced the final decision should be left in the hands of MPs.

He said: "We don't want to go back to the bad old days when the Conservative associations did not have any say at all.

"We want to know the views of all the associations, especially in seats we did not win but came very close to winning, such as Selby. But whoever is selected has to command the confidence of MPs because that is how democracy works - people are voting for John Greenway or Hugh Bayley or Phil Willis.

"We must draw on the benefits of both elements: associations saying: 'This is who we want as leader,' but also MPs who are experienced and know their colleagues' strengths and weaknesses.

"We need a person who matches the aspirations of the Tory associations and the wider electorate with one who commands the backing of the Parliamentary party."

Updated: 10:26 Monday, May 23, 2005