Tory accuses May of image 'botch-up'

The Tories suffered a fresh bout of infighting today after chairman Theresa May came under attack from one of Iain Duncan Smith's closest allies.

Advertising guru Lord Bell accused her of botching her attempt to transform the party's image. The charge added to speculation that she could face the axe in the next Opposition reshuffle.

It marked another outbreak of hostilities between the party's modernising wing, in which Mrs May is a leading light, and Tory traditionalists.

And it threatened to mar a period of success for the Tories which has seen them climb to level pegging with Labour in recent opinion polls.

A MORI survey for the Financial Times today showed the Conservatives leading by 38 to 35 per cent among people who say they are "absolutely certain to vote" in the next election.

Mrs May leapt to prominence at the Tory conference last autumn when she wore leopard-print kitten heels and warned that the Tories were seen by many people as the "nasty party".

Lord Bell told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost: "I think the 'nasty party' was very damaging ... it appeared we thought that we ourselves are nasty, rather than just the people who oppose us."

Mrs May is also under pressure over her attempts to have more women and ethnic minority candidates selected to run for Parliament.