CONSERVATIVE leader Iain Duncan Smith was this week ousted as head of the opposition after losing a confidence vote.

Tory MPs voted against their leader by 90 votes to 75 on Wednesday afternoon after months of speculation about his position.

Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a shadow minister for local government and the regions was one of those MPs who voted against Mr Duncan Smith.

But Mr Clifton-Brown said the party has a lot to thank its former leader for.

"I am grateful to Iain Duncan Smith for the part he played in rescuing the party following the 2001 election defeat," he said. "But I believed it was time to move on and find someone else to take the party into the next General Election."

As the leadership contest begins, Mr Clifton-Brown also indicated whom he would like to see at the head of the Tory party.

"I would be very pleased if that person was Michael Howard," he added.

Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Stroud Neil Carmichael said he had anticipated Mr Duncan Smith would be defeated in the confidence vote.

"I was aware of the disquiet in the House of Commons at the performance of Iain Duncan Smith as leader of the party," he said.

Mr Carmichael said he would welcome Michael Howard as the new Tory leader, adding: "I think it is now time to look forward and that we are definitely heading it the right direction now."