The Conservatives have barely begun to engage in the battle of ideas

There is still time for the Conservative leadership election to graduate to be more than a slightly distracting sideshow for the nation at large. Thus far, the proceedings, not least an outstandingly dull performance by the five candidates on the BBC's Question Time special last week, have done the party few favours. Unfortunately for the Tories, the contest has drawn attention to the party's weaknesses: a relative dearth of talent, the extent to which too many elements remain out of touch with mainstream public opinion and, crucially, the almost complete lack of imaginative thinking. If politics is about the battle of ideas, the Conservatives have few modern weapons with which to win it.

That said, the Conservative opportunity is real enough. The nation granted Labour its "historic" second term grudgingly, with the active support of fewer than one in four of the electorate. Indeed, the demeanour of many ministers, supposedly on the cusp of transforming Britain, suggests that they can't transcend their own doubts. They know that they will have only themselves to blame if they fail to "deliver" on public services, and that time is short. The voters might well turn to a radical alternative if New Labour isn't working by 2005. But, so far, Labour has little need to worry about these Tories.

To be fair, almost all the Conservative leadership candidates seem conscious that a lack of attention to the issues that worry the voters most – schools, hospitals, transport – did for the party on 7 June. Only Michael Ancram seems to believe that the débâcle last time, when the party made a net gain of just one parliamentary seat, is something to "build on". But then he was party chairman at the time, so has no alternative.

Ken Clarke is known for running things – the economy, the NHS, education – rather than dreaming up new schemes, but even so his lack of fresh thinking is a profound disappointment. Mr Clarke needs a more energetic image – although he can't do much about his age – and he, contrary to his own warnings, is still talking far too much about Europe and far too little about our decrepit public services. He remains, however, popular with the voters, a political heavyweight and a man able to lead the charge against Labour's biggest guns.

By contrast David Davis has made a few of the right noises, interestingly talking about a right for patients and GPs to nominate a hospital, public or private, of their choice for treatment. But he has failed to be radical enough, or dynamic enough, to set the contest alight, which undermines his leadership potential. Iain Duncan Smith has made some welcome hints, for example, about the kind of lessons that could be learnt from progressive countries, like the education system in the Netherlands. And, like Mr Clarke, he knows precisely what he stands for; unfortunately for him, his brand of "Essex man" conservatism does not have widespread electoral appeal these days.

Then there is Michael Portillo, the bookies' favourite and first out of the stalls. He has also spoken about what we can learn from the rest of Europe, a welcome change of tone from him, although without much substance. Indeed Mr Portillo has said that he will not be making any policy statements during the campaign. That might be politically astute but it is a worrying stance for a man claiming the leadership of a political party.

Mr Portillo seems to be aping Mr Blair a little too much. To take a small example, he tries to trump one of the Prime Minister's meaningless soundbites by declaring that "opportunity is not for the few and not for the many, but for all". This is banal tosh. If Mr Portillo has a vision, one that combines his instinctive social and economic liberalism, he should express it in less vacuous language. Such boldness could be rewarded, for the mood in Britain is increasingly liberal, as witnessed by the debate over decriminalising cannabis, while the Government has an undoubted authoritarian tinge.

The Independent, of course, does not cast its vote in this campaign. But we hope that Mr Portillo and Mr Clarke emerge from the parliamentary ballots and, having done so, that they are not scared to engage in a battle of ideas. The country, not just the Conservatives, desperately needs it.