Iain Duncan Smith has dismissed Michael Howard's promise to lead from the centre as little more than "political shorthand".

Asked on Sky News whether he agreed the Tory party should move to the centre ground, Duncan Smith said: "I don't know exactly what centre ground means, as opposed to what policies mean. People talk about centre ground. Yet if you ask what centre ground was in 1979 it was miles away from where we are today."

Asked whether he felt bitter, he said: "I am going to leave those comments on what happened to a later date.

"Clearly, I am sad I am not going to be taking my party to the next election. I stuck to everything I said I would do. Clearly, a majority of the party did not actually take that view as well."