Maude 'could take back seat'

Francis Maude wants the Tory party to modernise

Shadow foreign secretary Francis Maude may stand down from the Tory front bench when a new leader is elected next month.

Speaking on BBC1's Breakfast with Frost, he said he would only serve in the shadow cabinet under a new leader if they were prepared to accept a modernising agenda.

But he insisted whatever his decision he intended to remain "very active" in Conservative politics.

I am going to remain very active in Conservative politics, but not necessarily on the front bench

Francis Maude

Mr Maude was Michael Portillo's campaign manager before he lost out in the penultimate round of the Conservative leadership contest to remaining contenders Iain Duncan Smith and Ken Clarke.

The 300,000 Tory party members will vote for a new leader next month, with the results expected on 12 September.

Mr Maude told the programme that he would want the new leader to convince him they are very serious about change.

"There are lots of ways of serving other than being in the shadow cabinet or on the front bench and I am going to remain very active in Conservative politics, but not necessarily on the front bench," he said.

'Trojan Horse'

Last week, Mr Maude announced plans for a new Conservative policy forum, to carry on promoting the cause of modernisation and social liberalism championed by Mr Portillo.

He strongly denied that it would become a "party within a party" and a platform for "sniping" at the new leader.

"I am not going to be sniping. The reason for saying that we are proposing to set up this new forum is precisely to avoid the accusation that this is a sort of opposition to the new leader," he said.

Ken Clarke: Holding a campaign truce

"We are saying this is about a pro-active, positive message of change that the party has got to embrace."

But the forum was attacked by William Hague's former spin doctor Amanda Platell, who is an outspoken critic of Mr Portillo and his supporters.

In her Sunday Mirror column she warned that it would simply be a vehicle of plotting against the leadership.

"In fact, it will be a Trojan Horse, a vehicle for the Portillista pyromaniacs to enter the arena under disguise and attack the leadership," she wrote.

'Sabotage'

"Francis has got form. This is exactly what the Portillistas did to William Hague. And, as the IRA are proving at the moment, sabotage works."

She said that it was time that Mr Portillo's supporters accepted the verdict of the party and fall in behind whoever the new leader was.

"The person they eventually choose should be given a clear run to determine the direction in which the party moves, not be undermined at every turn by a small band of losers trying to control the agenda from outside," she said.

Her comments were dismissed by Mr Maude, who said: "I don't think Amanda Platell has very much credibility on these matters."

Both Mr Clarke and Mr Duncan Smith are currently holding a two week-truce while they both take a break from campaigning.