London Briefing: It's quite possible, writes Chris Johns, that a majority of the UK population doesn't know that there is a leadership contest under way to be the head of Her Majesty's opposition, otherwise known as the Conservative party.

It's almost certain that a majority of UK citizens don't care who is leader of the Tory party, which is a pity, since healthy democracies need effective opposition parties. While the demise of the Conservatives may have given New Labour an easier rise in the House of Commons, it has contributed to sloppy government thinking and muddled policies. The government would be a much sharper outfit if it had a credible opposition snapping at its heels.

At times it seems that virtually every member of the parliamentary Conservative party has declared himself a potential candidate, only for most of them to withdraw having found the temperature of party opinion to be distinctly lukewarm. I don't think any women have thrown their hats into the ring - perhaps it's a Maggie thing - although Teresa May could get involved.

Some of the antics of these guys are truly hilarious. One of those candidates, Liam Fox (who?), has accused the outgoing leader, Michael Howard, of "sparking the longest phoney war in history" by announcing his resignation so far in advance of the actual event. Nice to see that politicians still retain an ability for absurd hyperbole.

Malcolm Rifkind, one of the dwindling band of Tory ex-cabinet ministers, has made a play for the youth vote and stressed that he is from a younger generation of politicians than Michael Howard or on/off candidate Ken Clarke. At least, that is how I interpret his public protestations that he is younger than Clarke or Howard, despite many people believing they are all about the same age. For the record, Howard is 64, Clarke is 65 and Rifkind is 59.

David Davis is, apparently, the bookies' favourite and there has been much speculation about possible combinations of candidates on various "dream tickets". David Cameron, for instance, has been rumoured to be thinking of a joint bid with Ken Clarke but has recently dismissed such speculation on the grounds that he and Clarke do not share the same ideas about Europe.

Policy debate, whether economic or of any other kind, has been nearly as absent from the (phony) contest as politicians with household names. Ken Clarke features prominently in most stories, partly because he is still a figure of authority within the party, but mostly because he is one of the few potential candidates that anybody outside the Westminster hothouse has actually heard of. The only time the issue of Europe has really raised its head during this contest was when Clarke declared the EU constitution dead and buried and opined that the UK was not going to participate in the single currency for at least 10 years.

If we had not become used to the pantomime acts that is the Tory party, Clarke's comments on Europe would have merited more attention. The ex-chancellor is a centrist Tory who nailed his colours firmly to the European mast many decades ago. No posturing for him, he has been a true believer in the European ideal. He favoured British participation in the euro at the earliest possible stage. His seeming volte face could be seen as the last desperate gamble by an ageing politician determined to have one last shot at the title. While it is tempting to see Clarke's adoption of a form of euroscepticism as mere cynical opportunism, it is also probably wrong. He is merely being pragmatic.

Clarke's enthusiasm for the European ideal is undiminished. The fact that a true believer has given up on both the euro and the constitution is little short of incredible. But it does reflect the growing belief in Britain that the euro can already be judged to have failed. This may, or may not, turn out to be a premature judgment, but it is one that now unites the British body politic.

If Clarke's euro despair is the only interesting thing to come out of the interminable Tory election contest we can be sure that the next UK prime minister will, of course, be Gordon Brown.

Future Tory leaders take note: your chances of becoming prime minister will be greatly enhanced if we have heard of you.