The Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, sacked his deputy, Mr Peter Lilley, yesterday in a radical recasting of the shadow cabinet he hopes will lead the party into the next general election.
Conservative Central Office confirmed that Mr Hague asked Mr Lilley to step down, before announcing the shake-up, which sees five new faces on the Tory front bench and the voluntary departures of Mrs Gillian Shepherd, Sir Norman Fowler and Mr Michael Howard.
The most high-profile promotion was for Ms Ann Widdecombe - once dubbed Doris Karloff, now the Tories new "Iron Lady" - who became something of a media darling some years back for her suggestion that her old boss, Mr Howard, had "something of the night about him". She moves from health to shadow the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw.
The most spectacular promotion was that of Mr John Maples, who moves from defence to replace Mr Howard as shadow foreign secretary. The fastest rising star in Mr Hague's party is Mr Andrew Lansley, a former director of the party's research department, who entered the House of Commons only last year. He will shadow Dr Jack Cunningham at the cabinet office.
And despite persistent speculation that his days were numbered, the twice-failed leadership challenger, Mr John Redwood, retained his place on the front bench - in a sideways move from trade and industry to shadow Mr John Prescott at environment, transport and the regions.
Ms Widdecombe's promotion, and Mr Redwood's retention - he is the only survivor from the leadership race to succeed Mr John Major - is recognition of their combative performance in opposition. Mr Hague said that quality would characterise his new team, which would set "a cracking pace" in policy development.
But Mr Lilley's departure was proof of the party's failure since the general election wipe-out to formulate a coherent and convincing alternative agenda. Mr Lilley, himself a failed leadership contender, enraged Ms Widdecombe and much of the party earlier this year when he appeared to abandon its Thatcherite inheritance, by suggesting there were clear limits to the involvement of the private sector in such key areas as health and education.
But if Mr Hague - who has previously sacked Lord Cranborne as leader in the Lords - has again confirmed his readiness to be ruthless, he caused some surprise with his announcement that he would henceforth make policy his personal responsibility.
Alongside Mr Lansley, the other newcomer from the 1997 intake is Mrs Theresa May, who won the education and employment brief.
Mr Hague rejected suggestions that his new team marked a further lurch to the right, with aides insisting that new arrivals from the right had been balanced by the departure of such as Mr Howard. "This party doesn't want to move right or left," said Mr Hague. "It wants to move forward." And he said the same criticism had been made of his tough anti-euro election campaign, which, he claimed, had voiced the views of the majority of the British people.
Yesterday's changes saw the arrival of Mr Bernard Jenkin in charge of transport, Mrs Angela Browning at trade and industry, and Sir Edward Garnier replacing Sir Nicholas Lyell as shadow attorney general. Mr Francis Maude remains as shadow chancellor, while Mr Iain Duncan Smith switches from social security to defence.
Mr Michael Ancram will continue as party chairman, following reports that Mr Hague had offered the post to Mr Michael Portillo only to have it refused. Mr Portillo, who is keen to return to the Commons and is still tipped as a future challenger to Mr Hague, remains without a formal role in a team described by party officials as "a shadow cabinet in Mr Hague's own image".
A Labour MP yesterday warned the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, that it was too soon to think about bringing Mr Peter Mandelson back into the government in his old role as election campaign chief. Mr Denis MacShane said that while there were problems with Labour's European elections campaign, he did not agree that Mr Mandelson alone could revive the machine that proved so successful at the 1997 general election.
--(PA)