AS Tony Blair gets on with running the country, the Conservative Party is setting about finding a new leader. So far Michael Portillo is the front-runner, being the only candidate to stand at the time of going to press.

Mr Portillo was once considered the heir apparent to Mrs Thatcher. But since his election defeat in 1997 he has apparently undergone a personal conversion, calling for his party to be more inclusive since his re-entry into Parliament.

Mr Portillo leant such moderate intentions to his cause yesterday, using language oddly reminiscent of Tony Blair. He called for the party to be "thoughtful, understanding and moderate" and asked for an end to "yah-boo politics". Which was all well and good - except for the racket going on in the background. Yes, it was Ann Widdecombe yah-booing and creating a fine old clatter of discontent.

Really this is extraordinary. Here is a party which has suffered two numbing election defeats. The future hardly looks any brighter than the recent past. And before the candidates for the leadership have even been chosen, party notables are squabbling among themselves.

Miss Widdecombe launched a bitter attack on Mr Portillo, bemoaning the "backbiters" around him and declaring that if he became leader: "I cannot, simply cannot serve Michael Portillo."

Miss Widdecombe does herself and her party no service at all by carrying on in this manner. To air private animosity in such a very public manner is hardly helpful. It is also in telling contrast to the dignity William Hague displayed when announcing his resignation on the morning after the election.

The Conservative Party used to be the most efficient election-winning machine in western democracy. Such days now seem a long way in the past. If the Tories wish to make themselves electable again, they need to proceed with a good deal more decorum and unity of purpose.

Otherwise the new leader might well go the way of the old one.

Updated: 10:52 Thursday, June 14, 2001