Hague's flaw
From Mr Tom Benyon Sir: The rumours that the Tories are dissatisfied with the performance of lain Duncan Smith (it's crunch time for the Tories', 5 October) are inevitable, and could have been forecast the moment he was elected. Although Duncan Smith is a decent, hardworking and honourable man, anyone can tell at once that he has negative charisma.
That the Tories have the wrong man for the job is in a way the fault of William Hague. He allowed party members and not just MPs to choose the leader and thereby made it far more likely that the party will be consigned to history, for party members will always elect the people who reflect their parochial prejudices, whom they deem 'safe'.
• The Conservative party is unlikely ever again to be led by someone with the necessary genius to raise it from the dead, for these people are always dangerous and high-risk.
If party members had been allowed to vote in 1940, Halifax would have been war leader and not Churchill. In 1975, Heath would have been re-elected (or Edward du Cann), not Margaret Thatcher, and so it will go on. That is why Portillo and Clarke failed to be elected and would fail again if they stood again. Both were deemed unsafe, yet both would challenge Blair far more effectively than the present incumbent.
Torn Benyon
Adstock, Buckinghamshire
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