The BBC's Carole Walker: William Hague faces a tough time

Mr Hague has come under fire from members of his own party this week over his handling of the sacking of the Tory leader in the upper chamber, Lord Cranborne.

He was dismissed after it emerged that he had attempted to arrange a deal with the government over reform of the Lords.

The Tory leader insisted he had been forced to sack Lord Cranborne for "going behind my back" and making a deal with Labour over the abolition of hereditary peers.

William Hague: Seeking to reassert leadership

And on Sunday, Mr Hague attempted to put an end to an "embarrassing couple of days for the party", saying its members were now in no doubt as to who was leader.

Speaking on Talk Radio, he repeated his assertion that he had to sack Lord Cranborne for being "duplicitous".

Mr Hague said: "People have got to know that the leader is going to stand his ground."

He added that he would be finalising the membership of the shadow front bench in the Lords on Monday, to replace those who resigned in protest at Lord Cranborne's dismissal.

Senior members of Mr Hague's party have voiced their support for their leader.

Shadow health secretary Ann Widdecombe - touted by some commentators as a potential successor to Mr Hague - pledged her loyalty to the Tory leader.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The Westminster Hour, she said: "I think the Tory Party itself has got to get out of the habit of thinking that as soon as anything goes wrong the answer to that is a change of leadership."

Lord Cranborne: Sacked for being "duplicitous"

Tory deputy leader Peter Lilley was among other senior party members to lend their backing to Mr Hague. He said the response of party activists to their leader's decision to sack Lord Cranborne had been very supportive.

He told Sky News the affair had shown up the "deviousness" of Mr Blair, and that Mr Hague had now "stamped his authority clearly on the party".

The row over Lords reform refused to die down on Saturday night when it emerged that Lord Cranborne had actually gone further with plans for the deal than previously thought.

Downing Street confirmed that the sacked peer had met the prime minister's official spokesman Alistair Campbell to finalise a deal on Lords reform, as well as meeting Tony Blair.

Under Lord Cranborne's deal, 91 hereditary peers would stay during a transitional phase on the understanding that the Lords Reform Bill would be passed without delay.

Dissentors

While some members of the Conservative Party restated their loyalty to Mr Hague, voices of dissent could still be heard from some Tory peers.

Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, Lord Cranborne's deputy in the Lords until he resigned in protest at his colleague's dismissal, accused Mr Hague's aides of stirring up more trouble.

Lord Fraser: Almost unanimous support for the Cranborne deal

And he said there was nothing surprising in Lord Cranborne's two meetings at Downing Street: "Everyone is aware that Robert Cranborne was speaking directly to the government," he told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost.

"He was obviously going to negotiate with a number of people.

"It fills me with some gloom that William Hague's office seem to be intent on poisoning Robert Cranborne's reputation rather than reflecting on how best working relationships with Tory peers in the Lords might be re-established."

Former Conservative minister Lord St John of Fawsley warned the Tory leadership not to be "stupid" in trying to sabotage the deal negotiated with the government by Lord Cranborne.

And Baroness Flather, who on Thursday gave up the Conservative Whip to sit on the cross-benches, said Mr Hague should have found "other ways of dealing" with Lord Cranborne.