Question: You have talked about moving into the next phase. What do you think that is and how can the party go about achieving it?

John Redwood: What the party should now do is broaden and deepen the appeal of the so-called modernisers' agenda of the last 18 months. The central point of the campaign was to highlight how we sympathise with those in difficulties in life, suffering from bad public services or bad living conditions.

We now need to go on and show how authentic Conservative policies would make their lives much better.

My suggested slogan for the next phase is "we wish to bring choice to those who cannot afford choice at the moment". We should offer a real choice of home to those currently in council or housing association housing; real choice of school to those who currently have to send their child to the local comprehensive and like it whether it is good or bad; and choice in health where people today often have to wait too many months to get access to the local monopoly hospital.

Question: How can the party get rid of the "nasty" tag?

John Redwood: I have never felt the Conservative Party is nasty. If you look at its membership, the biggest national membership of any political party in Britain, it is made up of a very large number of different people, from all sorts of backgrounds and incomes who are dedicated to Conservative principles. They are united by wanting to serve their communities.

I have always been very impressed by just how many good-hearted volunteers there are in the Conservative Party. These are the people who tread the streets to deliver leaflets to make sure there is a democratic choice. They also very often are the leading lights in local charities and local community activities.

I wish to celebrate these people and say to them "we can now offer the public something much better, something which the public is ready to listen to".

Question: You have welcomed the personnel changes at Conservative Central Office. What was wrong with the people who were removed?

John Redwood: I have welcomed the changes because I think it is time to move on - to broaden and deepen the agenda and the appeal. I have welcomed the changes because I think it is most important that the leader of the party should have people he wants.

I don't think I can second guess his judgements. He has made very clear that he thinks this is the new team that he needs to take us into the next phase. I think he has chosen very interesting people and I look forward to working with them.

Question: Why then was Iain Duncan Smith seduced by the "pashmina politics" espoused by the likes of Michael Portillo?

John Redwood: I think Iain Duncan Smith quite rightly in his first months wanted to bring the party together after a difficult leadership election.

He correctly recognised there are perceptions amongst the so-called modernisers that the party needed to take on board. I am all in favour of us having a modern image. I'm all in favour of us taking good advice on how we should look and appear on television and in photographs. That is fine, we don't want the image to get in the way of the message.

I am also very happy that we highlight the work that Conservatives have done and wish to do for those who are going through troubles in their lives. But I now think it is time also to show that we are a very effective opposition, that we are going to express the anger, the disappointment, the bitterness that many people feel about this government.

They feel very let down. We must now with a big voice say why they feel let down and how we can do something about it.

Question: Isn't this a case of history repeating itself. Didn't William Hague retreat from modernisation only then to go down to a big defeat on a traditional, right-wing, eurosceptic manifesto?

John Redwood: I don't see history like that and I certainly don't think Iain is doing what William did in a later stage in that parliament. As I have explained, what I think Iain is doing is broadening and deepening the appeal on the foundations and the first steps that were taken in the early months of his leadership.

I don't think he is veering right or doing anything like that. I think what he is saying is that we Conservatives need positive commonsense approaches and policies towards the very problems that the government is failing to solve.

It is one thing to correctly identify this government has not given a really first class education to many people in the inner cities in the way that one would hope. It is another thing to say how we would remedy that. I think we now have policies which could do just that.

It's one thing to say that Labour's taxes are demolishing jobs and smashing pension funds and doing damage to big industries like telecommunications, that happens to be true. It's another thing now to go on and say how we would manage to run the country for less money so that some of that money could be given back to the people and companies which have been suffering. That is the task before us.

Question: Iain Duncan Smith was your campaign manager and now, obviously, he is party leader. What kind of contact do you have? How regularly do you meet?

John Redwood: Well I see Iain Duncan Smith from time-to-time both for private discussions and for general discussions. He is a very approachable leader. He is often around the Commons. I and others see him in the division lobbies, see him over the table in the cafeteria. And sometimes I have a private meeting with him when there are things we wish to discuss.

He has asked me to do one or two things for the party. I have been very happy to do that. And I look forward to further contact.

Question: So the relationship is quite "chummy" would you say?

John Redwood: I would say we are political friends and he knows that I am his staunchest ally and supporter. I will do anything I can to promote his cause.

Question: What sort of advice are you currently giving him?

John Redwood: If I saw him today I would tell him what I just told you. Which is that I think this is great news, that it's the clearest signal to the press and public that we're moving on and going forward.

We now have a really big opportunity because the government has made such a mess of so many things and the public has fallen out of love with the Labour regime.

We also have a great opportunity because we are beginning to put in place the ideas and policies which could set large numbers of people free. We really must extend choice to those who cannot afford choice at the moment. We must show people how the private sector has brightened up their lives and that the public sector is often blighting it.

Question: Would you be personally prepared to return to the frontline to deliver on that challenge?

John Redwood: I have always said that I am very happy to help in any sensible way and if the leader would like me to then I am sure we will discuss it when he thinks it is appropriate.

He hasn't been asking me to do that in the last week and I was not the source of all the wild press stories.

Question: Isn't there a risk that if you came back it would be a "yesterday's man" phenomenon - a reminder of the wrangling era of John Major?

John Redwood: I don't see it like that at all and most of the senior Conservatives lived through John Major's administration. So what? It gave us experiences, some pleasurable, some less pleasurable.

But we now know that we are a long way from that era and we want to press on and talk about the modern issues. I am a thoroughly modern politician. I live in the present and want to influence the future. I don't think there is any point in dwelling in the past.

Question: There obviously isn't a vacancy just now, but do you still have any leadership ambitions?

John Redwood: No, I will not be seeking the leadership. I am seeking to support our current leader. I voted for him, I pledged my full support and he will get my complete support because I want him to succeed.

Questions: The next big tests for Iain Duncan Smith are the local and devolved elections. What do you think he should be saying out there on the stumps?

John Redwood: I think the campaign for the local elections has to be conducted both locally and nationally. I think in the main it is best conducted with local messages put forward by local people.

Each contest is a bit different and the issues are different. The unifying theme for the Conservatives, which I am sure will put nationally, is that Conservatives give you better public services for less money. We don't tax and waste on the scale of Labour and the Lib Dems. Conservatives are united by the wish to serve their local community. That I would suggest is the national message and then the local messages can be based on the experiences and sense of local interest of all our council candidates.

Question: Is there a problem with the charisma question with regard to Mr Duncan Smith?

John Redwood: I think charisma is much over-rated as an issue in politics. Mr Tony Blair has been said to have enormous charisma but his ratings don't look very attractive at the moment.

What people really want from their leaders is effectiveness. They want leaders who make their lives better, they want leaders who listen to them when they feel very strongly about subjects. They don't feel that Mr Blair is scoring on either count at the moment. They feel he is ignoring them on the war, and he's not sorting out their public services.

So I'd rather have a leader who was in tune with the people and could sort out the problems.

Question: If you could think of one key way for the party to widen the base of its support - which is what it needs before it can take office again - what would that be?

John Redwood: I think the really big thing is to set out how freedom and choice can be extended for everyone by Conservative policies. I think that at the end of two terms of a Labour government this country is going to be heartily sick of busy bodies telling them how to lead their lives and robbing their pocketbooks and bank accounts to waste much of the money on bureaucracy and regulation. It is time to offer choices to the people who cannot afford choice today.