MS Ann Widdecombe vowed last night to continue to hound Mr Michael Howard over his decision to sack the prisons chief, Mr Derek Lewis, after the Commons Speaker turned down her request to air her criticisms in a statement to the House.
The former Home Office minister has conducted a one-woman campaign against Mr Howard, in a bitter personal feud which threatens to derail his bid for the Tory leadership.
In a 15-minute meeting with Ms Widdecombe yesterday, the Speaker, Ms Betty Boothroyd, told her she had no grounds for putting her case in a personal statement to the Commons. She also ruled that Ms Widdecombe could not raise the matter in a Commons adjournment debate.
Ms Widdecombe insisted she would find a way to vent her anger over the decision by Mr Howard, her former boss, to sack Mr Lewis as director general of the Prison Service in October 1995.
She said her preferred option now was to raise the matter during the Queen's Speech home affairs debate on Monday.
Meanwhile a rival Tory leadership candidate, Mr John Redwood, called for the contest to focus on policy issues. He warned that the party had to start re-building immediately if it was to stand a chance at the next general election.
In the Commons last night, Mr Peter Lilley, another Tory leadership contender, snatched the chance to impress backbenchers with the tough message that they had lost the election because they were divided.
. The Conservative Club in Mr John Major's Huntingdon constituency is to close after 28 years because of lack of funds, it was announced yesterday. The club, which is a social organisation separate from the Conservative Association, has experienced a decline in support.