DORSET'S most senior Conservative MP today branded the drugs row over Tory leadership contender David Cameron "ridiculous" and branded his main rivals as yesterday's men.

Just 24 hours before Tory MPs vote in the first ballot for a new leader, Sir John Butterfill said Cameron was "head and shoulders" above any other candidate.

Cameron has been dogged in recent days by questions over whether or not he took drugs in his university days.

Sir John, MP for Bournemouth West told the Daily Echo: "It's entirely a private matter and it's quite right that he should refuse to answer questions about it. This is precisely the line that Tony Blair and other members of the government have taken on matters they deemed to be personal. Once you start down that road, where does it stop?

"I shall be supporting him. He is head and shoulders above anyone else and the party has to move on."

But Christchurch MP Chris Chope said Cameron should come clean if there was anything in his past that would be an embar-rassment. "That is still a standard question put to every potential candidate and it's a question he is not prepared to answer."

He was also concerned about double standards. "I'm worried that we in the Conservative Party may have one law for the university or metropolitan elite, and another law for everybody else".

"New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne, a Liam Fox backer, said: "What is clear in my mind is that the leadership of the Conservative Party should not depend on some footling thing that you did when you were 19 and at university. But it does depend on what you believe now."

Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, Tobias Ellwood, added his support to Mr Cameron's leadership challenge and said the hype surrounding whether or not Cameron had taken drugs when he was a student was a distraction.

"Cameron has a vision, he is very energetic and he has what it takes to be a tremendous leader of the party.

"The way he has handled this issue is testament to his character."

First published: October 17