With a wry smile on his face, Tony Blair rises to stand at the despatch box for the first Prime Minister's Question Time of the new 2001 Parliamentary term. Instead of William Hague sitting a few feet away on the opposition benches, Kenneth Clarke fixes him with a determined stare. Behind him, the slimmed-down Tory benches are quiet - several Iain Duncan Smith supporters have carried through their threat and left the party shortly after Clarke's election at the end of a tumultuous summer for the Conservatives.
Mr Blair opens the new term with his best shot: "Mr Speaker, could the honourable gentleman opposite explain exactly what is his party's policy on the Single Currency?"
As a fantasy scenario, Tony Blair's exchange with Kenneth Clarke on the question of the Single Currency would make deliciously entertaining reading. Week after week from October until Labour recommends joining the euro and British voters register their decision in a referendum, Mr Clarke will be faced with the political conundrum of supporting the euro, while leading a largely Eurosceptic shadow cabinet and party.
It is a challenge Mr Clarke has obviously thought through; otherwise he wouldn't be standing as a candidate in the Conservative leadership contest to succeed William Hague. But the conflict between party and personal belief surely doesn't make the prospect of facing Mr Blair at PMQ's any easier?
And following Mr Clarke's confirmation on Monday that he was prepared to stand again with the Prime Minister on a pro-euro platform, won't fair-minded, Eurosceptic Tory voters wonder what has happened to the debate on membership of the Single Currency? Mr Clarke insists all views on Europe will be welcome in his shadow cabinet - and a majority are likely to be Eurosceptic - and he doesn't want the leadership contest to be dominated by Europe. If he is trying to learn a lesson from the Conservative election defeat this year then he has a point.
Tory voters and many senior Tory MPs wanted Mr Hague to challenge Labour's record on health, education and the economy rather than get into a tussle with Mr Blair over Europe. But if elected leader, and Mr Clarke thinks Labour will simply ignore such conflict at the heart of the party, then he need only read the newspapers the day after he misses that Commons vote on the Nice Treaty to see his miscalculation writ large.
With less than three weeks to go until the new leader is announced, the final phase of the contest will see Mr Clarke and Mr Duncan Smith touring the country trying to convince more than 300,000 party members that each one is the rightful heir to the Tory crown.
Until this week there were few fireworks. The removal of Mr Michael Portillo produced the greatest surprise during the parliamentary stage of the leadership contest but his swift departure to contemplate his political future en sured the party machine carried on turning without a hitch.
After a brief lull in warfare while Mr Clarke and Mr Duncan Smith went on holiday in early August, they returned this week to what is becoming an increasingly bitter campaign. Notably, it was the cent re-stage performance of the "Mummy" that had Mr Duncan Smith feigning surprise at the passion of her support and Mr Clarke spitting fire at the grand older lady of Conservative politics.
Baroness Thatcher's endorsement of the MP for Chingford was unsurprising, given Mr Duncan Smith's right-wing Eurosceptic credentials and the fact that she hasn't forgiven Mr Clarke for forcing her to resign in 1990. And just as unsurprising was John Major's declaration of support for Mr Clarke since both agree on most political issues but agree to differ on Mr Clarke's pro-euro position.
Mr Duncan Smith achieved favoured status in Lady Thatcher's eyes when he refused the offer of a ministerial job during the Major years to join the Maastricht rebels. "When he is criticised for lacking ministerial experience, it should be remembered he does so only because he put his integrity before his ambition," Lady Thatcher wrote in the Daily Telegraph this week as the leadership ballot papers were posted through the letterboxes of party members.
But observers are split on whether the "Mummy" still has any real influence over party members. Mr Clarke may believe her intervention will turn off young voters, but the average age of party members is 60. Yet some Tories believe Lady Thatcher's once faithful followers have fallen out of love with her because of her reported determination to undermine Mr Major and Mr Hague.
Soon the key questions will be answered. If Iain Duncan Smith is elected the next leader of the Conservative Party will Lady Thatcher be content to watch from the sidelines? And if Kenneth Clarke succeeds, can he be an effective leader in the face of a largely Eurosceptic party?