Cameron RED: Clarke YELLOW: Fox GREEN: Lansley PINK: Rifkind BLACK

How the betting has changed on the main contenders

The above chart shows the changing best betting prices available on the main challengers to David Davis in the Tory leadership race. The start date is May 6th – the day after the General Election when Michael Howard surprised everybody by announcing that he would be stepping down.

Since then there has been the wrangle on how his successor should be chosen and the calls for Howard to step down early.

But the main move in the betting has been a steady tightening of the Davis price and the consolidation of Cameron’s position as the main challenger.

David Davis has been the hot favourite throughout this period but at the start it was Liam Fox who was making the running. The 38 year old Education Secretary, David Cameron, got into the second favourite position within the first week and that is where he has remained ever since.

There was the huge move to Ken Clarke just after the French referendum but the former Tory Chancellor’s position has eased back since.

The only other contender who has seen recent movement in his favour has been Sir Malcolm Rifkind – the former Tory Foreign Secretary who lost his seat in the 1997 General Election and only returned to the Commons last month.

Mike Smithson