Mr Iain Duncan Smith started his leadership of the Conservative Party yesterday with bipartisan backing for Mr Tony Blair's commitment "to stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States".
Mr Duncan Smith praised the British Prime Minister for the speed and resolution of his response to Tuesday's terrorist atrocities in Washington, New York, and Pennsylvania and for "giving a lead to other nations who value freedom and democracy".
And he declared the US President, Mr Bush, right to describe Tuesday's outrage an act of war: "This was an act of war. And now the message must go out loud and clear that those governments which harbour terrorists will have to learn to live with the consequences of their actions."
Mr Duncan Smith was making his debut as Leader of the Opposition in the recalled House of Commons barely hours after his victory over Mr Kenneth Clarke in the battle to succeed Mr William Hague.
Mr Duncan Smith (47), a right-wing Euro-sceptic and the first Roman Catholic to lead one of Britain's two main parties in almost 200 years, had 155,933 votes (61 per cent) to Mr Clarke's 100,864 (39 per cent) when the result was declared at Conservative Central Office on Thursday night after a surprisingly high 79 per cent turnout among the party's estimated 318,000 members. Mr Clarke's Europhile supporters, like most commentators, accepted that the scale of Mr Duncan Smith's victory was decisive.
However, doubts about his ability to reunite the Conservative Party after a bruising and at times bitter leadership contest have been fuelled by warnings that he cannot presume upon the automatic loyalty of pro-European MPs, and by his inability to secure the return of some leading supporters of the defeated Mr Michael Portillo to the shadow cabinet announced yesterday.
One surprise was the appointment of Mr Michael Ancram - who backed Mr Duncan Smith after his own elimination from the leadership contest - as shadow foreign secretary and deputy party leader. Other top posts went to Mr Michael Howard, the former home secretary who becomes shadow chancellor and Mr Oliver Letwin, who will shadow Mr David Blunkett at the Home Office. Mr Duncan Smith's campaign manager, Mr Bernard Jenkin, will be the new shadow defence spokesman.
Another former leadership rival, Mr David Davis, was confirmed as the new party chairman in the first announcement made following the declaration of the result on Thursday night.
Mr Quentin Davies, a pro-European, was named to succeed Mr Andrew Mackay as shadow Northern Ireland spokesman.
Mr Mackay, who backed Mr Portillo, returns to the backbenches along with former "heavy hitters" Mr Francis Maude and Mr Archie Norman.