Tories have a mountain to climb, admits Yeo

The Conservatives still have a "mountain to climb" to win power despite their better-than-expected performance in the local council elections, a senior member of the Shadow Cabinet admitted yesterday.

A bleak assessment of the party's prospects from Tim Yeo, shadow Trade and Industry Secretary, contrasted with Iain Duncan Smith's insistence that he would win the next election.

Although the Tories won only 35 per cent of the vote, most MPs believe that last week's gains might have removed the immediate threat of a leadership challenge. Mr Yeo said the results meant "the background chatter that's been rather distracting in the last few months about his own position will have been blown away". But he told GMTV: "Of course, we have further to go, this is not enough to win us a general election."

He said: "Most people have a pretty sober view of the scale of the challenge which faces us. We've still got a mountain to climb but we've established a very important base camp this Thursday and it's given Iain Duncan Smith a second honeymoon. When he was elected leader, the initial period was overshadowed by terrible events in New York and elsewhere and I think now people will have the chance to see what he can do on the back of some surprisingly good results."

Tory chiefs are now attempting to draw a line under leadership speculation and go on the offensive on Labour's handling of public services.

But his critics have still not given up hope of mustering the support of the 25 MPs required to force a leadership ballot. Derek Conway, the Old Bexley and Sidcup MP, told BBC1's Politics Show yesterday that the "jury's still out" on Mr Duncan Smith, accusing him of landing "self-inflicted" wounds "often out of clear blue sky".