'Quiet man' says he will confound his critics

Iain Duncan Smith described himself as the "quiet man" of British politics yesterday when he promised to confound his critics and lead the Tories back from the political wilderness.

In his closing speech to the Tory conference in Bournemouth, he told his party it could no longer "live in the past" and, in a message aimed at Lord Tebbit on the Tory right and Kenneth Clarke on the left, said the party could no longer "refight the battles of the past".

His pitch to the voters was to make a virtue out of his plain image, which the Tories will contrast with the "spin" and "glitz" used by Tony Blair. He said: "Those who do not know me yet, will come to understand this: when I say a thing, I mean it. When I set myself a task, I do it. When I settle on a course, I stick to it. Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man. I will continue to do what I believe to be right."

He said he had known "danger"– a reference to his Army service in Northern Ireland –and the "disappointment" of being made redundant. He recalled he "did not waver" when he was warned by senior Tories he had "no future" in Parliament during the backbench rebellion against the Maastricht Treaty.

He won a warm six-minute standing ovation after issuing a blunt warning that the Tories must change to survive. "We must understand the way life in Britain is lived today, and not the way it was lived 20 years ago. Yes, it is right to be proud of the past, but it is wrong to try and live in the past. This country has moved on and so must we," he said. "The challenges changed but we did not change to meet those challenges."

In a swipe at John Major, who led the Tories to defeat in 1997, he said people "too often remember the hurt we caused and the anger they felt". He added: "Never again can we take the people of Britain for granted. Until people see our party has learnt the lessons of 1997, we will go on getting the same result of 1997. The party I lead will live in the present and prepare for the future."

Insisting the Tories were back, he promised the party would "trust the people" to choose their schools and hospitals, look after their families and run their businesses.