Chairman who found fresh determination to preach tolerance

Her kitten heals and leather skirts may have sparked a fashion revolution among Tory women, but Theresa May's bold dress sense was not the main topic of debate in Bournemouth this week.

The Tory party chairman was being compared yesterday to Margaret Thatcher by activists impressed by her courageous warning that Tories must shrug off their "nasty party" image or risk losing the next election. Her attack on "glib moralising" and "hypocritical finger wagging" shocked many traditional Tories but impressed others who feel their only hope of seizing power from Labour lies in radical change.

But her instruction to the Tories to draw a line under the sleaze, sexism and bigotry of the past was a risky gamble and could have gone disastrously wrong for her. Friends of Ms May say she was prepared for a walkout as she accused the party of appealing to a "mythical place called Middle England" and told them to adopt a more modern, tolerant image. Instead she received a roaring ovation, delivering what many saw as the most insightful speech of the conference.

Since winning Maidenhead in 1997, Ms May has been promoted quickly but her ascent was threatened by her failure to land killer punches against Stephen Byers when she was his shadow. Commentators who had dismissed her as a second-rung politician, claiming her appointment as party chairman this year was a mere tokenistic gesture, were dumbfounded by her resolve.

On the conference platform and at receptions in Bournemouth, observers said she showed a new authority and self- belief. Audrey North, a delegate from Upminster who helped Ms May in her by-election campaign in 1994, said: "She has always been very determined and a good listener. But she is more self-confident and smoother. She and Margaret Thatcher are of the same calibre. Once they have made up their mind they don't turn back."

Her fresh self-belief was reflected in her much remarked-on wardrobe. At the beginning of the conference she wore a sober black suit, with her distinctive Russell and Bromley leopard-print heels peeping out to excite the delegates. Yesterday she sported a bold red jacket, a black leather skirt and black high heels with a risky red rose embroidered on the toes.

As she strode purposefully along the promenade she explained that her new-found confidence was "partly drawn from the positive feedback from all the delegates" and partly because she believed so strongly in the need for a fresh start.