THE SPIRITED call by Michael Heseltine for Tories to rally round John Major as leader, or risk losing the general election, is a clever tactic.

But it is one that may bounce back on itself.

For having his putative successor and one-time leadership challenger publicly pledging himself to Major's leadership may be a good way of crushing the renewed speculation about the security of the Prime Prime Minister's place at the party's helm.

But to what back-bench Tory MPs are most loyal is their own job security.

And should tomorrow's local government elections prove to be a real bloodbath for the Tories and those MPs start looking at a general election wipe-out, they will rally to anyone who may minimise to chances of them being turfed out of Westminster.

Thus it is a case of how much John Major is made to look a loser tomorrow that will be the test of Mr Heseltine's rallying call for loyalty to the PM.

If the losses of Tory council seats are restricted to around 400, backbenchers may heed Michael's cry.

More than 600 losses would probably find Mr Heseltine embarrassed by pledges of loyalty - to him.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.