Duncan Smith under attack from both sides of Tory divide

Iain Duncan Smith came under fire from the Tory left and right last night when his attempt to launch a fightback exposed deep differences over the party's future direction.

While the Conservatives sought to recapture Margaret Thatcher's populist appeal by promising to allow one million housing association tenants to buy their homes, modernisers criticised the leadership's pledge to complete the "unfinished Thatcher revolution". They warned that voters would see it as a backward-looking vision.

Stephen Dorrell, a former cabinet minister, told The Independent: "A political party will earn people's support when it sets out a vision for the future. That is more important than the heroes of the past."

But the Tory leadership also suffered a backlash from traditionalists led by Lord Tebbit, Mr Duncan Smith's political mentor, who attacked the party chairman, Theresa May, for describing the Tories as "the nasty party". He said: "I think that she has got it a bit wrong. This is a very tolerant and generous party."

David Davis, who shadows John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, also distanced himself from Mrs May's speech. He told the conference: "Now is not the time for us to lose heart. But for people to believe in us, we have to believe in ourselves. We must not be afraid of saying what we know to be true. To win an argument, you have to make a case."