Analysis By Nick Assinder Political Correspondent, BBC News website

If sacked Tory Howard Flight wants to limit the damage his controversial remarks caused the Tory election campaign he is going about it the wrong way.

Mr Flight is fighting his punishment

His refusal to go quietly may well have the backing, either publicly or privately, of those Conservatives who like the idea of a rolling programme of savings which he suggested was the party's secret agenda.

And many of those are angry at what they believe has been the overly harsh treatment of Mr Flight by Michael Howard.

But his decision to contest his punishment will ensure this row continues for some time.

It also risks opening up another of those internal Tory battles that did so much to cripple and finally help end John Major's government and which battered both his successors William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith.

Already the Tory leader has seen key election policy launches overshadowed by the row amid claims it was his tough action that has ensure the affair continues to run and run.

Secret agenda

Baroness O'Cathain, Mr Flight's constituency association president, has threatened to resign over the "brutal" treatment of the MP.

And there are senior Tories who believe Mr Howard has mishandled the affair.

Mr Howard has shown he has the power and willingness to go as far as necessary to impose his will

But it is clear the Tory leader is not about to back down and believes he had to act if he was to salvage anything from the controversy that threatens to blow a large hole in his election strategy.

It may be too late to stop Labour from making repeated use of Mr Flight's comments and suggestion there is a secret Tory agenda for cuts.

But Mr Howard has given himself the room to claim Mr Flight's comments do not represent settled Conservative Party policy and that he will not say one thing in public while planning to do another in private.

Whether any of that washes with voters is another matter, of course.

Hard line

And what the whole row threatens to do is see an even more damaging battle within the party over whether the programme of continuing cuts and tax reductions suggested by the MP should be official policy.

There are plenty in the party who believe it should be and that this issue goes to the heart of the Tory principle of creating a small state leaving individuals with more freedom over how to spend their hard-earned income.

Mr Howard is not ready to back down

Meanwhile, Mr Howard has shown he has the power and willingness to go as far as necessary to impose his will - with his tough action in the Slough constituency acting as an example to others.

In that case two successive candidates have been removed this year by party HQ - and after opposing the latter removal the Slough association has been suspended and a new candidate parachuted in.

His actions also echo the hard line Labour took against dissidents as part of its modernisation campaign, and which has seen the party leadership having the power to impose candidates on local constituencies.

The best Mr Howard can probably hope for now, however, is that this matter is settled as quickly as possible.

Until it is he will struggle to get his election campaign back on track.