Annual conference puts off voters, say Portillo allies

Allies of Michael Portillo are urging the next Tory leader to overhaul the party's annual conference because they fear it alienates potential supporters.

They believe images of elderly, flag-waving Tory activists at the five-day jamborees at Blackpool or Bournemouth put off younger voters. Members of the group, who plan to launch a think-tank next month dedicated to pursuing Mr Portillo's modernising agenda, want the conferences replaced by more low-key gatherings. One member of the Shadow Cabinet said: "There's no reason that they cannot be updated to be more in tune with the times. Why can't they take place somewhere like Birmingham, admit visitors for the day and invite more non-political speakers?"

The October trip to the seaside is an annual highlight for thousands of Tory activists. But the modernisers said that drastically altering the form of the conference would be a powerful symbol of the new leader's willingness to change.

Supporters of the new, as yet unnamed, think-tank include the shadow ministers Francis Maude, David Willetts, Archie Norman and Tim Yeo, and at least 10 other MPs. Mr Portillo, now expected to resign as an MP at the next general election, will not be formally involved for fear that the group could be seen as rival power base to the new leader, whose election will be announced on 12 September.

The group plans to issue a series of papers calling for an overhaul of the party's policies and campaigning style. One member said: "For years we have failed to connect with the real issues that concern people."

The group believes Tory MPs should try to reach beyond traditional supporters by accepting more invitations to address non-party meetings. It will call for a concerted effort by the leader to recruit more female and ethnic-minority MPs, and people from a wider range of social backgrounds.

Most of the MPs involved in the new group are expected to back Kenneth Clarke in the leadership ballot without publicly declaring for him. But they fear both Mr Clarke and his rival Iain Duncan Smith have failed to grasp how much the Tories need to change.

As well as a more relaxed attitude to soft drug use and homosexuality, the new group is expected to argue for a fresh look at the environment, globalisation, student financing and the family. It says that Tory tax proposals discriminating in favour of married couples alienate stable, unmarried families. Mr Maude has said the organisation will be separate from party headquarters.

Conservative Central Office announced on Friday that 57 per cent of the party's members had already voted in the leadership contest, higher than the 40 per cent figure the rival campaigns had expected. The party had previously rejected calls by Mr Clarke for a running total of the votes cast to be disclosed.

The Clarke camp, who believe a higher turnout will help their man, were "delighted" with the figure. The Duncan Smith team denied they wanted a low turnout because they have fewer "armchair" members.

Mr Clarke had another fillip when a survey of 110 Tory group leaders on local authority councils showed that 60 backed him, 41 supported Mr Duncan Smith and nine were undecided.

Edward McMillan Scott, leader of the Tories in the European Parliament, will reopen divisions over Europe today by attacking as "a speech too far" William Hague's pre-election address in which he warned that Britain could become a "foreign land" under Labour.