Michael Samuels is the Environment Secretary, aligned with the "liberal" faction. Young, smart, and attractive, Francis Urquhart dislikes him due to his rapid rise within the party and his Jewish background. Samuels is a frontrunner and ultimately Urquhart's chief rival for the Conservative leadership when Henry Collingridge resigns. However, he lost the election when an anonymous source (secretly Urquhart) leaks that Samuels – whilst at university – was near to the Communist Party, supported denuclearisation, and gay rights.