Tories are rocked by new poll findings

The Tories are reeling from a new opinion poll showing they are doing worse under Michael Howard than Iain Duncan Smith.

The YouGov poll put Labour on 34 per cent, the Conservatives on 33 per cent and the Lib-Dems 23 per cent. The survey also found that the Tories were no longer taken seriously by large sections of the electorate, with many voters believing they lack a clear sense of direction.

Mr Howard's personal standing is still higher than that of Mr Duncan Smith and William Hague, suggesting that the party's problems are much more deep rooted than their leadership.

The findings in the Daily Telegraph have 50 per cent of those polled saying that the Tory party has "values broadly different to my own", 56 per cent saying it "seems stuck in the past" and 57 per cent stating that it is "out of touch with modern Britain".

The party is already licking its wounds after its summer offensive against Labour was derailed by a spectacular week of infighting between veteran MPs and younger members known as "the Notting Hill set".