Are the Conservatives making progress?

Archie Norman: The party has made more progress in the last 12 months than the previous four years. And the Bournemouth conference demonstrated a real thirst for new ideas amongst the members even where they represent a break with the past.

But we are a long way from having a coherent new agenda and need to step up the pace. We are still driving with the hand brake on: the reform agenda is fragile and there are many who would use short term opinion polls as an excuse to resile. Many Conservatives still cherish the notion that past solutions can resolve present problems. The leadership is grappling with the task of transforming both ideas and culture at once. This year is probably the last opportunity to set new directions - after that the election drumbeat takes over.

Is there a big idea?

Archie Norman: Probably not. And the search for one is based on a mistaken understanding of today's political landscape. Big ideas emerge from time to time at turning points in political history. But most of the time they are for simple minds who hope for easy salvation and a new doctrine. Today's politics is harder than that. The mood of the electorate is deeply practical.

Political partisanship is despised. That does not mean there are not differences. But it is about the basic graft of Conservatism: making the apparatus of the state work, giving power back to local communities, establishing a constitution that protects individuals and their freedom from state interference, reducing the long term inexorable rise in the cost of welfare, making public services work.

Why is it proving so difficult to break through with 20 and 30 year olds?

Archie Norman: For much the same reasons that the party has not broken through with any other age group. We are on a journey of change both in culture and ideas. So far we have only sporadically offered people something they can believe in that feels both genuine, from the heart, and at the same time contemporary. There was a flicker of new life at the party conference. We need to rekindle it.

Young people want to back a party that looks forward with hope and curiosity. That has enthusiasm and belief. Even today some Conservatives look and sound like negative and rather unhappy people: People who wish the world was as it used to be. When Conservatives get animated it is all too often driven by a dislike of Labour than a belief in what we can do for our country.

How worried should Conservatives be about the Lib Dem challenge?

Archie Norman:I believe we should be worried about our own challenge not the Lib Dems. Their success is merely the measure of our failure. But it is in our hands to succeed. This is not a popular government. We have to demonstrate we are a credible decent generous opposition with a consistent and unswerving belief in ourselves and what we stand for. If we do that the Lib Dems will be nowhere: there are some serious Lib Dems but their leader is not one of them. Their success, particularly in the inner cities of the north is a measure of what we can achieve if we get our act together.

The modernisation issue is talked about but does it have credibility?

Archie Norman: The reform agenda depends on two things: firstly it has to be authentic: driven by Conservative principles and passionate commitment to reform public services, bring freedom and opportunity to those who do not have them today, and respect for all our citizens.

Second it has to be relentless, no slipping no backsliding, and no ambiguity. Recent history relates that hesitancy will sow division. When we slip back people conclude that the mask has slipped. Without passion and without consistency we will inspire nobody: people will assume it is all a manoeuvre to improve our position in the opinion polls.

Are there enough mechanisms for new radical thinking?

Archie Norman: It is almost impossible for the leadership to generate a wave of new policy ideas on its own. IDS has made a huge effort to heave the policy agenda forward. But today we are struggling against the intellectual baggage of post Thatcherism, the paucity of the right wing academic community, and the failure of business to advance a new enterprise agenda and the ageing of the party.

To generate new ideas the party should be hoovering up the best thinking from all sides and encouraging and stimulating contributions however outrageous from outside the establishment.

What advice would you give the Conservative Central Office machine?

Archie Norman: There is a pretty bright team in Central Office of serious political advisers under a strong new chairman. They understand in the main the reform agenda. My advice is to be brave and pick up on the reform process we started in 1997 and 1998. It is not that reform did not work - we would be dead in the water without it.

But we did not go nearly far enough. CCO should be a world class political centre: a place where people aspire to work with fewer smarter people provided with professional management support. The membership side needs to pay for itself and modernise in all aspects of recruitment and involvement. We need to launch a revival in the universities. We need to make more of our strength in local government: we have more councillors than volunteer activists and they should be our most potent force.

How can the Conservative Party membership be made less grey?

Archie Norman: It is time to question whether the old model of local branches and constituency associations will ever again generate a mass membership for the party. In many parts of the country Conservative volunteer representation is all but extinct: Yet there are many Conservative thinking people whether in Manchester or Liverpool or Newcastle. We need to give them a chance to belong.

That means contemplating a much bigger centrally recruited membership and the chance for people to affiliate to the party without becoming full subscribers. And we should consider whether to introduce a more popular form of Conservative democracy: for instance why not provide an option of US style "primaries" for the selection of Conservative candidates. This would bring in and involve new younger people to support contemporary popular candidates campaigning for a Conservative revival.

What should Conservatives be looking for at next year's local elections?

Archie Norman: I don't see these as make or break or anything else. That is part of the short-termist thinking that can only drive us to knee jerk reactions to achieve short term success at the expense of building a fundamentally stronger long term position. What I would like to see is at least one notable success in the northern or Midlands urban heartlands which have become virtual no go areas for Conservatives. That would be a measure of whether we are "breaking out of the laager."

Is there a case for re-opening the leadership question if the party does not make progress?

Archie Norman: Iain Duncan-Smith would be the first to recognise that no leader has a freehold on the party. But the party elected him through a process devised by the 1922 Committee and overwhelmingly approved by both MPs and members in 1998. He has as far as I can tell been true to his mandate and more than that set a brave new agenda on public services. He is the person the party chose and we would need very convincing reasons for inviting people to change their minds.

Will IDS be leader at the next election?

Archie Norman: I expect so: assuming he wants to be - and it would be quite understandable if he decided he had enough!