This week the Conservative Party indicated that it can learn to operate as an effective Opposition. For years the Tories have been in various stages of denial about defeat. Their spokesmen acted as though Labour had acquired office on a fraudulent prospectus and stayed in power only because no one was crying “thief!” loud enough. But during this conference it was possible to hear the clink of several pennies dropping.

The party chairman, Theresa May, fully and honestly acknowledged the errors of the past. Issues which once dominated Tory conversation, notably the euro and asylum, were either passed over briefly or handled with greater delicacy. In their place came a more thoughtful concentration on those issues of greatest concern to the voters who have deserted the Tories, specifically the future of the public services. And that refreshing shift of emphasis was reflected in Iain Duncan Smith’s speech yesterday.

Mr Duncan Smith has few of the orator’s natural gifts. Humour does not come easily to him, his modulation is erratic, when he strains for emphasis he all too often sounds robotic. But there were passages in his address when his delivery did transcend the pedestrian. The section in his speech when the Tory leader spoke directly and personally from the heart, reminding his audience that he was not a man to flinch under fire, won the hearts of the representatives. It may also have given the wider television audience a glimpse of the determination which is one of Mr Duncan Smith’s quiet strengths.

The warmth of the reception in the conference hall will have stilled, for a while, the muttering about Mr Duncan Smith’s abilities and authority which preceded this week. That has bought the Tory leader time to build on the themes which his party began to develop in Bournemouth. For the first time since Tony Blair became Labour leader the Tories now possess a broadly coherent critique of their opponents and offer an intelligible outline of their alternative.

The Conservatives have developed an analysis of the failure of the centralised State, even after significant tax rises, to deliver the improvements a consumerist electorate expect from public services. They argue that the decentralisation of control, and the empowerment of citizens as consumers, can bring the improvements voters require. The policies Mr Duncan Smith unveiled to give an indication of how this analysis would operate have merit, not least the granting of foundation status to all hospitals and the proposal to allow voluntary bodies to play a bigger role in the delivery of care.

If the promise inherent in these policies is to be fulfilled, however, then the Conservatives will have to show over the coming months that they appreciate how far they still have to go as a party. Can the reasonableness of tone which marked most frontbenchers’ speeches be sustained in Parliament, television studios and on the hustings in the months to come? Will the commitment to build a party which looks more like Britain be followed through with action to ensure that the representatives are drawn from a much wider pool? Will Mr Duncan Smith’s belief in letting professionals get on with their job and trusting people extend to second-order but symbolic issues such as Section 28? Can a party which claims to put public services first develop an agenda for competition which does not become simply an escape route for a few?

Few outside the Tory party entertained great expectations of Mr Duncan Smith’s leadership when he assumed office, but he has shown a capacity for growth which secured him the confidence of his conference yesterday. Mr Duncan Smith therefore has a right to ask not be underestimated. But he should not underestimate the huge scale of the task ahead of him.

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