Page "House of Cards" Paragraph 8

After Collingridge's resignation, Urquhart — in imitation of Shakespeare's Richard of Gloucester — at first feigns unwillingness to stand before announcing his candidacy.

With the help of his underling, Tim Stamper, Urquhart goes about making sure his competitors drop out of the race: Peter MacKenzie, secretary of health, accidentally runs his car over a protester at a demonstration staged by Urquhart and is forced to withdraw by the public outcry, while Harold Earle, secretary for education, is blackmailed into withdrawing when Urquhart anonymously sends pictures of him in the company of a rentboy he had paid for sex.