Ken Clarke is being brought back into the fold to David Cameron's shadow cabinet as the Conservative leader assembles a team to challenge Labour on the economy.
politics.co.uk understands that Mr Clarke, chancellor for six years in John Major governments, will be named shadow business secretary as part of a major reshuffle on Monday.
The 68-year-old will replace incumbent Alan Duncan, who is set to be offered another post.
Naming Mr Clarke, who ran for the leadership of the Conservatives unsuccessfully three times, pits him against fellow political heavyweight Lord Mandelson in the government.
The anticipated appointment is borne out of concern from the Tories that their front bench appeared to lack experience, something Mr Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne finally acted upon this weekend.
But Mr Clarke's return to front bench politics will come at the chagrin to the party's eurosceptics, although the former chancellor and Mr Cameron are understood to have put their differences on Europe aside for now.
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