Former Cabinet minister John Redwood has signalled that he is willing to return to frontline duties.

Speaking amid reports that he is being lined up to replace party chairman Theresa May, the former Welsh secretary said he was "a very strong supporter" of the current leadership.

Redwood defended Iain Duncan Smith's decision to remove two key modernisers from Conservative Central Office.

He said Duncan Smith was putting in place "a team of people who want to work closely and strongly with him".

The new approach, he said, would take the party to "the next stage of mounting the Conservative comeback in which we engage vigorously with this government and not only highlight its weaknesses but show people there is an alternative that would work better".

Welcoming the renewed emphasis on core Tory values, Redwood said he would consider returning to the party's frontbench.

"My day hadn't gone. I'm still hear and still putting a Conservative case, often with the support of the leadership. If the leadership want me to serve in some other capacity then I'm very happy to talk to them," he told the World at One.

The intervention comes amid the latest round of Conservative in-fighting.

May has become the latest victim of anonymous sniping in the press as right-wingers push for an end to the "modernisation" agenda.

Central Office has played down suggestions that she is set to hold discussions with the party's 17-strong board to discuss Duncan Smith's sacking of Mark Macgregor from the post of chief executive.

He was replaced by right-winger Barry Legg, a former Maastricht rebel who also took on the position of Duncan Smith's chief of staff.

Members of the board are reported to be furious that they were not consulted over the dismissal, which is viewed as a move against the reform agenda pushed by some senior party figures such as Michael Portillo.

May's attempt to address the concerns come at a time when she is subject to anonymous briefings suggesting the party leader has lost confidence in her.

She is said to be furious at the attempts to undermine her position.

The latest moves indicate the fierce debate over the future direction of the party is continuing.

After initially setting out a strategy of focusing on improvements in public services, Duncan Smith has recently returned to traditional Conservative grounds such as crime and asylum.

"The modernising agenda is dead. It has failed and it has been seen to fail," one party source told the Times newspaper.

"Now that these people have gone Iain can go back to doing what he should have done from the start, what he was elected by the party membership to do. He can be a proper Tory."

The latest tensions over the direction of the party have been eased by the Commons recess, which has meant that most MPs are away from the Westminster village.

But the row is expected to dominate a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs when the Commons resumes business next week.