Duncan Smith issues challenge to party
Embattled Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith threw down the gauntlet to the critics in his party on Monday, challenging them to force a vote of no confidence by Wednesday or abandon their attempts.
Conservative MPs Derek Conway and Crispin Blunt announced over the weekend that they had sent letters to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee calling for a vote of no confidence in the Conservative leader.
Mr Duncan Smith met with MPs in small groups throughout the day on Monday in order to gauge Parliamentary opinion.
In order to trigger a leadership election, 25 letters must be written to 1922 Committee chair Sir Michael Spicer.
The 1922 Committee meets on Wednesday evening, and Mr Duncan Smith has announced that he will address his Parliamentary colleagues at the meeting.
A statement by the Conservative leader described the party as in the grip of a “fever” and called on MPs to “reject the cowardly plotting of recent weeks”.
He said the Conservative party must decide about his leadership and “about the kind of party we want to be”.
Mr Duncan Smith pledged to attempt to win a vote of confidence in his leadership if challenged and said he respected colleagues that had been “open and honest about their intentions”. But, he added, if the 25 names were not forthcoming by the deadline “I will expect my party to call a halt to this most damaging episode”.
