| British Conservatives vote to dump their leader, throwing party into turmoil at 14:40 on October 29, 2003, EST. |
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LONDON (CP) - Britain's Conservative MPs, frustrated at their failure to make headway against the Labour government in the polls, dumped their leader Iain Duncan Smith on Wednesday without giving him a chance to fight an election. The Tories will now have their third leader in less than three years with an election about 18 months away. Duncan Smith becomes the first Conservative leader in 80 years not to lead his party into an election. Wednesday's non-confidence vote was set in motion when at least 25 MPs signed letters needed under the party's constitution to trigger a leadership review. Duncan Smith made a last-ditch appeal to his 165-member caucus before the vote, telling a closed door meeting that the party is about to make gains on Prime Minister Tony Blair's majority Labour government. "The tide is turning," he was quoted as saying by a party official who briefed journalists on the meeting. "We must be united and focused to take our opportunity." To survive, Duncan Smith needed a simple majority of MPs to support his continued leadership of the party. The vote was close, with 90 MPs voting against him remaining as leader, and 75 supporting him. Under the party's rules, he cannot run for the leadership in the race that now begins. MPs who came out against Duncan Smith said he lacked the presence of a leader, failing to inspire voters to support the party, which governed Britain for most of the last century under leaders such as Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Backbench MPs have been plotting against him for more than a month. Duncan Smith's image was further damaged two weeks ago when Parliament's standards watchdog began an investigation into allegations that taxpayers' money was misused when he employed his wife Betsy in his office. But party infighting over the direction of the party has plagued the Conservatives for the last decade, especially during former prime minister John Major's leadership over Britain's place in the European Union before he was soundly defeated by Blair in 1997. Duncan Smith, 49, a former officer in the Scots Guards who served in Northern Ireland, became leader in a party-wide vote two years ago. He was a surprise winner in the contest to replace William Hague after the Tories were crushed by Labour in the 2001 election. Although he won less than a third of the support of the Tory caucus at the time, he managed to carry a majority of votes among the party's 300,000 members. In his speech to the caucus, Duncan Smith admitted to making mistakes during his leadership. "The last two years have been a steep learning curve for me and I have made mistakes," he was quoted as saying. But he also warned his MPs that they must settle their differences if they are to beat Labour. "We must end the bitterness that has tarnished our party not for the last two years, but the last 10 years," he added. The leading candidate to replace Duncan Smith is Michael Howard, the party's finance critic. A former home secretary responsible for law and order in Major's government, the 62-year-old right-winger is admired in the party for his debating skills and seen as someone who could test Blair in the House of Commons. Others who could run are Michael Ancram, 52, the party's deputy leader who is seen as a Conservative traditionalist. Party modernizers would like to see Tim Yeo, 58, run for the leadership in the hopes of moving the party more to the centre in an attempt to attract younger and middle-class voters. Theresa May, 47, the party's chairman and a reformer, and David Davis, 54, a fierce critic of the EU, are also possible candidates. A new leader is expected to be selected by Christmas after all MPs vote on a list of candidates in a series of ballots aimed at reducing the list to two finalists, whose names are then put before card carrying members of the party in a general vote. Before the vote was held, Labour MPs took delight in the Tories' turmoil. With Duncan Smith focusing on crime in question period, Labour MP Dennis Skinner asked Blair: "In view of the renewed interest in crime figures, especially on the Tory benches, will you consider that back stabbing becomes a criminal offence." To howls of laughter, Blair replied: "I want to admit that in the past few years that crime has gone up. But I regret to say that on the evidence available there's not much we are going to be able to do with it." KEVIN WARD |
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