Tory chief pledges revival in fortunes

CONSERVATIVE Party chairman Jeremy Hanley last night promised another election victory to the party faithful and attacked Labour leader Tony Blair as representing the 'nightmare of socialism'.

As the party conference opened, he promised a revival in Tory fortunes and said Prime Minister John Major was the 'right man in the right place at the right time to deliver a fifth victory'.

He dismissed the new-look Labour under Mr Blair, saying his party had been wrong on every issue before and was still wrong.

Mr Major looked confident and in charge as he arrived at the Bournemouth conference hall. At last year's conference - and for some time afterwards - there were questions about his leadership but nobody in the party now is talking about a serious leadership challenge this autumn.

Nonetheless, Lady Thatcher arrived to take her place on the conference platform in what some would see as her traditional attempt to steal the show.

She refused to answer questions about claims that her son made GBP12 million (HK$147 million) out of a British-Saudi Arabian arms deal.

The welcome for her in the hall was warm but significantly shorter than it has been in the past. The party leadership hopes that interest in the 'sleaze factor' which has dominated the opening of the conference will fade as fast as the ovation for the former prime minister.