UK: Britain's Conservative Party was given the dire warning yesterday that it still has much to do in some areas to make itself "the first choice opposition", let alone win a return to government.
The warning on the first day of the party conference in Bournemouth came from Mrs Theresa May, the party's family affairs spokeswoman, as Shadow Home Secretary Mr David Davis acknowledged that the United Kingdom Independence Party's challenge alone could cost the Tories 50 Commons seats.
As doctors declared the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, fit to fly to Ethiopia today for talks on the future of Africa, the opinion polls cast gloom over the Conservative gathering, with one suggesting Mr Michael Howard's party is in a worse position than a year ago under the leadership of Mr Iain Duncan Smith.
Newly returned shadow cabinet minister Mr John Redwood tried a more upbeat message in response to a YouGov poll, suggesting firm pledges to cut taxes and control the number of immigrants entering Britain could help the party attract floating voters. "We are again the tax-cutting party," he boldly declared.
However, that claim contrasted with the reluctance of the shadow Chancellor, Mr Oliver Letwin, to commit himself to specific tax reductions. In his keynote speech Mr Letwin promised that a Conservative government's first Budget would set Britain on the path to a lower-tax economy.
However, while identifying five areas of "unfair" taxation, he stuck to his previously cautious position, insisting there would be "no more broken promises on tax." Mr Letwin said: "There have been too many broken promises on tax from too many politicians. When we were in office we made promises on tax we could not keep.
"And everybody knows what happened when Tony Blair promised that he had no plans to increase taxes at all - and then raised taxes 66 times by stealth. So no more broken promises on tax."
This reticence chimed with other speakers on the conference fringe like Sir Malcolm Rifkind and party co-ordinator Mr David Cameron, who urged the leadership to stick with the policy of compassion put forward by Mr Duncan Smith and develop policies relevant to voters in the inner cities.
At her fringe meeting Mrs May said the party's fourth place in last week's Hartlepool by-election was "clearly disappointing" adding: "We must acknowledge that in urban areas, particularly the metropolitan districts, our position is but a shadow of our former strength." Many voters disillusioned with Labour were instead turning to the Liberal Democrats.