The 2005 Conservative Party leadership election was called by party leader Michael Howard on 6 May 2005, when he announced that he would be stepping down as Leader of the Conservative Party in the near future following the party's third successive general election defeat. However, he stated that he would not depart until a review of the rules for the leadership election had been conducted, given the high level of dissatisfaction with the current system. Ultimately, no changes were made and the election proceeded with the existing rules, which were introduced in 1998. The contest formally began on 7 October 2005, when the Chairman of the 1922 committee, Michael Spicer, received a letter of resignation from Howard. Nominations for candidates opened immediately, and closed on 13 October. The first round of voting amongst Conservative members of Parliament took place on 18 October and Kenneth Clarke was eliminated (38 votes) leaving David Davis (62 votes), David Cameron (56 votes) and Liam Fox (42 votes) to go through to the second ballot on 20 October. In the second ballot, Fox was eliminated (51 votes), leaving Cameron (90 votes) and Davis (57 votes) to go through to a postal ballot. The ballot, whose result was declared on 6 December, saw Cameron win 68% of votes to Davis' 32%. Candidates Candidates who withdrew The following candidates declared their intention to seek the leadership, but withdrew before voting began after gathering limited support: Results The first ballot of MPs was held on 18 October. The results were announced, ten minutes later than expected, at 5:30 pm by Sir Michael Spicer, the Chairman of the 1922 Committee. : First ballot There were no abstentions, with all 198 Conservative members voting. Cameron, Davis and Fox went through to the second ballot held on 20 October. The results were announced by the Chairman of the 1922 Committee at 5:30 pm. Second ballot Cameron and Davis went through to the runoff vote of the Conservative Party's 300,000 members. The votes were counted on 5 December and the winner, David Cameron, was announced shortly after 15:00 on 6 December. The rules of the contest Much speculation surrounded the review of the rules, as it was widely perceived that the system eventually adopted could prove a help or hindrance to particular candidates with strong support in certain areas of the party. However, on 27 September 2005, the proposal to change the