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Cameron defends Tory leadership | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
David Cameron has defended his Tory party leadership and warned there will be "no retreat to the comfort zone". | |
It comes as a newspaper report said that at least two Tory MPs were calling for a vote of no confidence in him. | |
Coming third in two by-elections, a row over grammar schools and an apparent "Brown bounce" in the polls have prompted some unease in the party. | |
Mr Cameron told Sky News he wished the by-elections had gone better but the party was back in the "centre ground". | |
The Conservatives were beaten into third place by the Liberal Democrats in the two by-elections held in Ealing Southall and Sedgefield last Thursday. | |
'No retreat' | |
The Sunday Telegraph reported that as many as six MPs had sent letters to the chairman of the party's 1922 backbench committee - although letters from 29 MPs are needed for any vote of no confidence to take place. | |
Asked whether his Tory critics were going to "get their party back", Mr Cameron told Sky News: "This is the Conservative Party, but what we are not going to do is retreat to the comfort zone. | |
"I made changes to and with the Conservative Party over the last 18 months for a very clear purpose, to get us back into the centre ground, to get us into a position where people listen to what we were saying, where we are more in touch with Britain as it is today." | |
I'm not satisfied, we should have done better, we need to work hard at it, but now it's onto the next test David Cameron | |
He said the Conservatives were ready for a general election "whenever he [Gordon Brown] has the courage to call it" and said they were the party to address Britain's "broken society" - whereas Mr Brown had been at the top of the government that had created it. | |
In Ealing Southall Mr Cameron's choice of candidate, Tony Lit, proved controversial because he had only recently joined the party, and had been photographed with Tony Blair at a Labour fundraising dinner. | |
But the Tory leader said Mr Lit had been a "very good candidate" and although the Conservatives had come third, their vote had not been "squeezed" but had held up. | |
"I'm not satisfied, we should have done better, we need to work hard at it, but now it's onto the next test," he said. | |
'Silly season' | 'Silly season' |
The Sunday Telegraph said at least two, and up to six, Tory MPs were calling for a vote of no confidence in Mr Cameron - but 1922 Committee chairman Sir Michael Spicer has refused to confirm or deny whether he had received any such letters. | |
The MPs supposedly involved have not been named, and sources close to Mr Cameron have indicated it was not being taken seriously by the party leadership. | |
Tory frontbencher Andrew Mitchell told the BBC it was a "pretty flaky story" and suggested "the silly season has arrived rather early". | |
People want us to produce firm and clear policies on issues that worry them most - law and order, immigration and the health service Ann Widdecombe,Former Tory minister | |
Meanwhile, former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe urged Mr Cameron to secure the traditional Tory vote. | |
She told the Mail on Sunday: "We must not lose our nerve and there is an underlying goodwill towards David Cameron. | She told the Mail on Sunday: "We must not lose our nerve and there is an underlying goodwill towards David Cameron. |
"He has been very successful in getting support from people who previously would not have looked at us. | "He has been very successful in getting support from people who previously would not have looked at us. |
"But he must now pay a great deal of attention to shoring up our traditional vote. | "But he must now pay a great deal of attention to shoring up our traditional vote. |
"People want us to produce firm and clear policies on issues that worry them most - law and order, immigration and the health service." | "People want us to produce firm and clear policies on issues that worry them most - law and order, immigration and the health service." |
Polls for two Sunday newspapers point to a continuing "bounce" effect for Gordon Brown, with the Sunday Times showing a seven-point lead for Labour over the Tories. | |
The YouGov poll puts Labour on 40%, the Conservatives on 33% and the Lib Dems on 15%. | The YouGov poll puts Labour on 40%, the Conservatives on 33% and the Lib Dems on 15%. |