Boris brands Tory leader 'Ming the Merciless'

Conservative leader Michael Howard was dubbed "Ming the Merciless" by one of his former shadow ministers today as it emerged that sacked MP Howard Flight's last chance of a comeback has been dashed.

Henley MP and Spectator editor Boris Johnson said Mr Flight's dismissal was "unfair and callous" but ultimately the only way of spiking Labour charges about Tory spending plans.

His remarks came as the man in charge of candidate selection insisted Mr Flight would not be allowed back as Tory MP for Arundel and South Downs. He was expelled for suggesting that the Conservatives had a secret programme of spending cuts.

Party deputy chairman Andrew Mackay said there will be "only one item on the agenda" when the local party meets next Wednesday to choose a replacement for Mr Flight.

Mr Mackay met the Arundel party chiefs yesterday and gave them a shortlist of 10 names, half of them women.

They will be whittled down to four or five on Monday night when the executive council meets. Mr Johnson, himself sacked as a shadow minister by Mr Howard, used his magazine's editorial to compare him to the evil character in Flash Gordon.

It said that one of the main reasons that Mr Howard was elected to replace Iain Duncan Smith was "the hope that he would bring back discipline and a more Ming the Merciless approach to leadership. So he has".