BBC News Online: UK: Politics

Hague puts Tories on the couch

He told a meeting of around 300 defeated conservative candidates and former MPs that the party understood why it had lost in May and that its attitude, culture and structure were being changed.

He said: "One of the very few institutions we never reformed in government was our own party."

Mr Hague was speaking at Conservative Central Office in London to explain his plans to change the party into a credible alternative government by the next general election.

Mr Hague said that by March - when the party is due to hold its special conference to endorse proposed internal reforms - it will have undergone a more radical change than Labour achieved in 15 years.

He said every Tory would be involved in a campaign called "Listening to Britain", an exercise to listen to millions of voters.

He promised: "We are going to be the party that is truly interested in the people of this country.

"The Labour Party have pretended to be like that but they are not. People are starting to notice that a lot more.

"We have got to make sure we stay true to our principles but change our party in a number of important respects."

He singled out the agreement by MPs that in future leaders should be chosen by the entire party membership.

MPs selection too narrow

Mr Hague's speech coincides with a report from a grassroots suggesting Conservative MPs come from a narrower section of society than they did 20 years ago.

The Tory Reform Group (TRG) says the "modernisation" of selection procedure in 1980 led to a decline in the number of new MPs educated in state schools and failed to increase the number of women MPs or MPs from ethnic backgrounds.

The group is calling for "substantial reform to the system to end discrimination, encourage applications from women and ensure the highest standards of integrity amongst candidates and MPs".

The report said the selection procedure, which includes a course like that used to select British Army officers, had "helped to distance MPs from ordinary Conservative voters".

It states: "We cannot go on saying that we understand the working classes because we employ them as our servants."