As the Conservatives go about looking to pick a new leader, latest odds the bookmakers are offering place Sir Malcolm Rifikind as the long shot, well actually, very long shot.
You should be able to get odds of at least 50/1 for the former Tory foreign secretary to win the battle to be next leader of the party and follow Michael Howard.
At its annual conference in Blackpool this week, all the candidates will be giving speeches to delegates to win their support.
Will Rifkind be the next nice Jewish boy to lead the Conservatives? Or is being Jewish an obstacle to his leadership plans?
More importantly, what will Rifkind be doing on the first and second day of Rosh Hashanah, which take place on Tuesday and Wednesday of the conference.
There is a story about Mr Rifkind that someone once told me. He was seen in Carmellis in Golders Green when Pesach just finished. He remarked to this friend of mine who went up to chat to him and said he couldn't understand why there were huge crowds so late on a week night. It turns out that he didn't realise Pesach had been and gone. Does that answer your question above? Do you think that this story is true?
Posted by: Jeremy Freeman | October 02, 2005 at 11:13 PM