Lynton Crosby, the Australian election strategist recently hired by Michael Howard, wants to drop the slogan introduced at the last party conference.

Crosby is said to be unimpressed by the "Timetable for Action" line introduced by Lord Saatchi, the Tory co-chairman.

One Conservative source said: "After the disastrous conference last year, Iain Duncan Smith picked up a few points in the polls. This year it was an excellent conference but if anything we have gone down in the polls."