Iain Duncan Smith

The Right Honourable George Iain Duncan Smith (born April 9, 1954) is a British politician. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green, and was leader of the Conservative Party from September 12, 2001 to November 6, 2003. On October 29, 2003 he lost a vote of confidence in his leadership and stepped down eight days later when Michael Howard assumed the post, being the only candidate.

The downfall of Duncan Smith

Duncan Smith's election as party leader was overshadowed by the events of September 11 which was a halting start to his leadership. Duncan Smith was not a gifted public speaker, seeming to be troubled by a frog in his throat throughout most of his two years as leader (which prompted Private Eye to refer to him incessantly as "Iain Duncan Cough"), and his personality struggling to make an impact in the rowdy atmosphere of Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. Few doubted Duncan Smith's decency and honesty but these seemed insufficient virtues for the electorate and polls stubbornly refused to move in a Conservative direction. There were continued rumours of discontent among his backbenchers, not dampened by his warning to his party in November 2002: "My message is simple and stark, unite or die".

Related Topics:
September 11 - Private Eye - Prime Minister's Questions - House of Commons - Unite or die

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 2002 Conservative Party conference saw an attempt to turn Duncan Smith's lack of rabble-rousing ability with his much-quoted line, 'never underestimate the determination of a quiet man'. Unfortunately the line was as derided as it was admired. The following year, his conference speech appeared to have abandoned this technique in favour of an aggressive hard-man act that few found convincing (even if the loyal party members in the hall punctuated the speech with something like seventeen standing ovations), the main soundbite from the speech being "the quiet man is here to stay - and he's turning up the volume."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Duncan Smith said in December 2002 that he intended to be party leader for a "very long time to come." This did little to quell the speculation in Westminster regarding his continued presence as party leader. On 21 February 2003, The Independent newspaper published a story saying that a number of MPs were attempting to start the process of declaring a vote of confidence in Mr Duncan Smith. Apparently many Conservative MPs considered IDS to be "unelectable" among ordinary voters.

Related Topics:
2002 - 21 February - 2003 - The Independent - Vote of confidence

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Around this time, Duncan Smith was subject to scathing criticism on the popular British topical news programme Have I Got News For You. In particular, Paul Merton insisted that he was in fact two people, Iain and Duncan Smith: the first twins to share joint leadership of a major British political party.

Related Topics:
Have I Got News For You - Paul Merton

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

These worries came to a head in October 2003. For a vote to occur, 15 percent of Conservative MPs (at this point 25 MPs) had to write to the Chairman of the 1922 Committee demanding the vote. On 26 October, amid mounting claims that the threshold of 25 was about to be reached, Duncan Smith made an appearance on television daring his opponents to show their hand by the evening of October 29, or to withdraw their challenge. He also stated that he would not step down if a vote was called. Over the next two days a few prominent Conservative backbenchers confirmed to the press that they had sent letters.

Related Topics:
2003 - 1922 Committee - 26 October - October 29

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By 28 October, 25 Conservative MPs had indeed demanded the vote. After this was announced, Duncan Smith made an appearance in front of Conservative Party headquarters in Smith Square, where he stated that he was going to "absolutely" contest the vote. The vote of confidence was held on 29 October. Duncan Smith lost, 90-75.

Related Topics:
28 October - Smith Square - 29 October

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~