Howard's team look to future

By Nick Assinder
Political Correspondent, BBC News website

Not even the chill wind whipping around the towers of the palace of Westminster seemed to take the edge off the enthusiasm beaming out from the faces of Michael Howard's team of new MPs.

A warm welcome in the cold

The 50 plus men and women first timers lined up to meet their leader outside the Commons on a traditionally challenging spring day - and to be told they were the party's bright new future.

They certainly looked bright and they certainly looked, for the most part, new.

The half dozen women, the first black Tory MP, Adam Afriyie, and the second Conservative MP of Asian origin, Shailesh Vara, presented a distinctly more youthful, upbeat facade than the one on show this time four years ago when the party had plunged to another electoral disaster.

They may not have been swept to power this time around either, but Mr Howard's relentlessly optimistic tone was loudly echoed by this team.

Their leader likened them to the Tories elected to Winston Churchill's opposition in 1950 and who went on to march to victory in 1951.

Turning point

Nobody raised an eyebrow that he had to look back half a century for that bit of good news. That was not the point after all.

He was telling them they would have as much an impact on the Commons and, more importantly the government, as that intake did.

Howard looked to next election

The suggestion they too were at an historic turning point could have rung hollow with another opposition that had just seen its enemy elected with a sizeable majority of 67.

But with the Labour Party already gripped by speculation over the prime minister's future, another allegedly difficult reshuffle and talk that Tony Blair will be unable to push his programme through parliament this group were only too ready to accept it.

All they need now is a fresh new leader to march them towards that next election - and keep morale high along the way.