Council gains take heat from Tories' turmoil

Shadow minister seeks leadership challenge; Tories, Lib Dems and BNP gain

Iain Duncan Smith's leadership of the Tory party suffered another stunning setback last night when one of his own frontbenchers quit and urged fellow MPs to overthrow him.

But better-than-expected Tory gains in the English local authority elections will have taken some of the heat out of the surprise resignation of Crispin Blunt, the shadow Trade and Industry Minister.

The Tories seized control in a string of councils as Labour lost control in Birmingham, Trafford, Bristol, Coventry, Exeter, Bolton and Rochdale. Nevertheless the Tories' share of the vote, at 34 per cent, looked unlikely to be strong enough to end the threat to Mr Duncan Smith's leadership even though his party had net gains of more than 520 English council seats.

The Liberal Democrats had its best-ever local election performance, suggesting it could capture some Tory seats at the next general election. It had a 30 per cent share of the vote, catching up Labour.

The Liberal Democrats, who gained more than 120 seats, ousted the Tories in Torbay and Windsor and Maidenhead, took over from Labour in Chesterfield and Durham and also won Watford. Mr Kennedy hailed his party's showing as "excellent" and "and a huge psychological boost."

On a night on which the British National Party (BNP) continued to make breakthroughs, Labour won power in Sheffield and Plymouth but lost more than 600 seats. Its defeat in Birmingham was blamed on opposition to the Iraq war among Muslim voters.

Labour took comfort from the turmoil in the Tory ranks, with officials saying the governing party would normally suffer heavier mid-term losses.

The Tory gains included Basildon, Castle Point, Stratford-upon-Avon, Mendip, Wellingborough, Congleton, Worcester, Salisbury, East Staffordshire, Mid Suffolk, South Oxfordshire and Poole. The Tories overtook Labour as the party controlling most authorities in England for the first time since 1989.

Mr Duncan Smith hailed his party's results as "a spectacular victory" and said in a statement: "The Labour Party have had their worst result since the Winter of Discontent in 1979. The Conservatives are now the largest party of local government in Great Britain.

"More and more people are recognising that Conservatives provide better services and still manage to charge lower taxes - a fair deal for everyone."

Labour was on course to remain the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, although it was expected to require the continuing support of the Liberal Democrats in a governing coalition. In Wales, Labour won an early boost when it gained Labour won Islwyn from Plaid Cymru, raising its hopes of securing an overall majority in the Welsh Assembly.

Launching a devastating attack on Mr Duncan Smith, Mr Blunt stood down in protest at the "fatal handicap" his leadership represented to the party's chances of winning power. He told The Independent last night that he had formally called for a motion of no confidence in Mr Duncan Smith six months ago and hoped that the necessary other 24 MPs would now join him to trigger such a vote.

Mr Blunt said Tories inside and outside Parliament felt unable to present Mr Duncan Smith "as a credible alternative Prime Minister" and urged fellow MPs to launch a leadership challenge. "I can no longer reconcile my public duty to him with my own views of the consequences of his leadership for the success of the Conservative Party," he said.

Mr Blunt, who served as an aide to Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a former defence and foreign secretary, claimed that "any of the likely successors" to Mr Duncan Smith would be more popular with the voters.