SEPTEMBER 1, 2005

Race fan bids for UK's top job

Ken Clarke, a Formula 1 fan and director of British American Tobacco, the part-owner of BAR, is bidding to become the leader of the Conservative Party in Britain and then hopes to lead the party to beat Labour at the next election, which must take place before May 2010.

Clarke is a strong candidate, having been a leading Conservative politician in the 1980s and 1990s, including a four year spell as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He has twice contested the leadership of the party but lost in both 1997 and 2001. His major problem will be that of age as he will 70 years old in 2010, an advanced age for any politician to be bidding to be Prime Minister.