Mr Michael Portillo emerged in front in the Conservative leadership battle last night after the first-round ballot of Tory MPs at Westminster.
However, as he won less than a third of the available votes, the result pointed to a close contest when the final two candidates face a ballot of the party's estimated 300,000 members in September.
Immediate attention at Westminster was focused on the battle for that prized second slot on the final ballot, with Mr Iain Duncan Smith and Mr Kenneth Clarke locked in battle for the right to oppose Mr Portillo in the autumn play-off.
With the available total of 166 votes cast, Mr Portillo topped yesterday's poll with 49 votes. Mr Duncan Smith, the favoured candidate of the Thatcherite right, came second, with 39, followed by former chancellor Mr Clarke on 36. Mr David Davis and Mr Michael Ancram tied with 21 votes, forcing Sir Michael Spicer, chairman of the 1922 Committee, to order a re-run of the first round tomorrow unless one or other or both drop out.
Mr Davis, the "dark horse" who tipped himself to come fourth yesterday and second in the scheduled final ballot of MPs next Tuesday, indicated his intention to stay in the contest. However, Mr Ancram fuelled speculation that he might withdraw, saying he wished to consider his position with his campaign team.
The immediate assumption at Westminster was that a decision by Mr Ancram to quit would benefit Mr Clarke and probably enable him to come second in tomorrow's vote.
Assuming no significant shift otherwise, that could see the supporters of the Eurosceptic Mr Davis finally decide between Mr Duncan Smith and Mr Clarke for a place on the final ballot.
One of Mr Portillo's supporters, Mr John Bercow MP, claimed the result was "bang on target" and another, Mr David Willetts, insisted it was in line with their expectations. However, Mr Portillo's tally in the first round was slightly less than some of his campaign managers had privately predicted, and came amid fresh questions about Mr Portillo's "judgment" following yesterday's Guardian disclosure that he failed to declare some £20,000 in fees from speaking engagements while he was a minister in the Major government.
In Brussels yesterday Mr Portillo again dismissed the story as "a smear which is intended to influence the leadership election" by a Labour-supporting newspaper. At Westminster, meanwhile, Portillo supporters claimed the story proved their man was the one most feared by Labour.
However, Mr Portillo's Conservative enemies were on the march again last night after he appeared to change his line of a week ago by suggesting that "a strong enough case" had been made for the legalisation of cannabis.
Ms Ann Widdecombe, still the shadow home secretary, declared: "You are not seriously telling me that the Conservative Party thinks it can win the next election on the basis of liberalising the law on marijuana. It is one thing to call for a debate and another thing to say that a case has been made."