Kenneth Clarke has ruled himself out of the running for the Conservative Party leadership.

The former chancellor paved the way for Michael Howard to stand unopposed in the election to replace Iain Duncan Smith.

The two men met last night to discuss the terms of a Howard leadership.

Clarke initially said he was "not minded to stand" after he sought reassurances that pro-Europeans would feature in the Shadow Cabinet.

But this morning he went a stage further - announcing that he would stay out of the race in order to give his Cambridge contemporary a clear run.

"I'm not going to stand myself," he told reporters outside his home.

"Michael - if he turns out to be the leader - is an old personal friend of mine. I look forward to supporting him as I would support anybody who emerges as the leader of the Conservative Party.

"I particularly welcome what Michael said about leading from the centre. I hope to see that put into practice and I hope he broadens the appeal of the party because I think we have lurched too far to the right.

"I'm sure Michael is determined to do something to make a broader appeal and make broader use of the party."

Clarke told Sky News that Howard had a "real political feel" and would "set a tone and style for the party that will get us back to real politics".

Howard would "frighten Tony Blair" he said.

Clarke ruled out a return to frontline politics, dismissing talk of a deal to put him in a Howard Shadow Cabinet.

"I think going back to the Shadow Cabinet remains as unlikely as it were when William Hague won the leadership," he announced.

"We would spend too much time talking about where we disagreed."

Howard released his own statement thanking Clarke for his support.

His words were "further evidence of our desire to bring a strong and unified force to the Conservative Party" Howard said.

The former home secretary last night staked a powerful claim for the Tory leadership with a pledge to "lead from the centre".

Following six weeks of crisis in the Conservative Party, Howard is set to be anointed as Iain Duncan Smith's successor.

Likely to be the sole candidate, he could be installed as party leader as early as next week.

Howard has already secured the support of possible leadership rivals Michael Ancram, David Davis, Tim Yeo and Oliver Letwin.

And last night Theresa May ruled herself out of the running.

To cheers from his supporters, the shadow chancellor pledged to lead the party with "vigorous honesty".

"I will lead this party from its centre. I will call on the talents of all in the party and the party will expect all to answer that call," he said.

But in a sideswipe at Duncan Smith, Howard said he would only oppose the government where there was reason to do so.

"There will be no narrow political opportunism from us. I will tell the truth. I will tell it as I see it," he said.

Howard, a grammar school educated son of a Romanian immigrant, vowed to govern for "all Britain and all Britons".

"Today we know there are pockets of desperate poverty. No party that aspires to govern can ignore that," he said.

"Many of our great provincial cities are Conservative deserts. Today it's my mission to change that."

At Westminster last night many MPs were expressing astonishment at the events in the 24 hours which followed Duncan Smith's resignation.

Many had expected to dig in for a damaging and protracted leadership election.

Instead unprecedented unity has emerged as MPs from all parts of the party swung behind the eurosceptic right-winger.

Whilst the party is upbeat despite its recent woes, they accept that damage has been done by the recent divisions.

Senior Tories admit that they face a tough task in repairing the damage done between the parliamentary party and grassroots members.

In a bid to quell the sense of disgust, Howard vowed to give the party's rank-and-file the chance to ratify his leadership.

Throughout the course of the day senior Tories had lined up to give their unflinching support to the former minister.

Deputy leader Michael Ancram described Howard as "one of our most effective performers on the frontbench".

Tim Yeo, who had also been seen as a possible contender, said: "Michael Howard is the right person to take us forward."

And William Hague also swung behind his former Cabinet colleague.

"I think Michael is likely to win a leadership election, it's possible he'll be the only candidate," he said. "Personally I would be very happy to see him as the leader."