Iain Duncan Smith will face a fresh challenge over this appointment of Barry Legg as chief of staff and Tory chief executive when the party's board meets early next week.

Duncan Smith is said to have secured legal advice which confirms he has the power to appoint one person to both roles.

Insiders say the turf war is threatening to undermine last week's 650 local election gains.

Meanwhile Francis Maude has warned that Thursday's results do not represent real progress for the party.

His comments were backed up by Tim Yeo who conceded the party still had "a mountain to climb".