Tory chiefs urge loyalty

The Tory high command today began to rally around Iain Duncan Smith with increasingly urgent pleas for loyalty to the leader.

Mr Duncan Smith, beset by plotting and a dire new crop of opinion polls, denied there was a problem.

He said the man the voters wanted to throw out was Tony Blair, not him. But that was quickly belied by the calls from members of the shadow cabinet for the sniping against the leader to stop.

David Davis, himself a former contender for the top job, told a Tory fringe meeting that Labour would always attack a Conservative leader. He went on: "The problem is when we attack our own - and we should not help them by doing so."

Shadow transport secretary Tim Collins weighed in, saying some in the party needed to "re-learn the virtues of loyalty".

In his conference speech he declared: "Let us remind them Iain Duncan Smith was elected overwhelmingly, is daily exposing Tony Blair's deceit and dishonesty, and deserves the undivided support of the entire party.

"So let the message go forth to every Conservative - however eminent, senior or self-important: if you cannot say anything positive about your party, don't say anything at all."

The rallying calls came as Mr Duncan Smith faced threats from serious figures within the party and from the rank and file who elected him.

Jonathan Steele, chairman of the Buckinghamshire constituency of Beaconsfield, said: "We will support our leader, whoever it is. If Mr Duncan Smith performs well, then it will be him. However, if he does not, we have the right to reconsider our position."

That message was perhaps the most ominous yet for the Tory leader at the party conference opening in Blackpool today. Mr Duncan Smith was preparing to preside over the launch of a string of new policies. He said today that he intended to deliver a "real deal" to the voter instead of the "lies and deceit" of Labour.

However, the effort was overshadowed by suggestions that senior figures were mobilising to unseat him.

Tories today learned that names were being sought to sign a "round robin" letter asking Mr Duncan Smith to stand down next month if the critics of his leadership have not been silenced.

A member of the shadow cabinet was reported as saying that senior figures were looking at signing up as many as 70 MPs and "grandees" to back an appeal.

Although the backers of potential rivals - such as, among others, shadow chancellor Michael Howard and former chancellor Kenneth Clarke - were said to be circling, there was no sign of any agreement as to who the replacement should be.

This afternoon Mr Clarke opened a new rift with Mr Duncan Smith, with a warning that tax cuts should be well down the party's list of priorities. He said the first task for a Tory government must be to bring down borrowing and spending. The next was to improve key areas of Britain's public services.

Some were suggesting that the conference would go better for Mr Duncan Smith than was predicted and would allow him to soldier on.

The opinion polls, though, offered little encouragement. A survey by YouGov for the Daily Telegraph found 47 per cent of the voters dismissing Mr Duncan Smith's leadership as "weak and ineffectual". Three per cent gave his leadership a positive rating.

Support for Labour stands at 36 per cent, with the Conservatives on 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 26 per cent, according to a Populus poll in The Times.

Mr Duncan Smith's rating continues to be the lowest of the three party leaders, not only among voters but among Tories.