He may well be a cross-dressing Morris dancer but for the war effort it's important he comes across as a balding guards officer

Rory Bremner

Cartoonist Mr Scarfe has complained that he just can't get a handle on Mr Duncan Smith's "blank-looking" face.

"I don't know what the Tory Party is doing to us cartoonists because we had some wonderful characters lined up," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Impressionist Rory Bremner said that Mr Duncan Smith was hard to get his teeth into while William Hague was more colourful - satirically-speaking.

Having said that, Mr Bremner conceded it was hard for a new opposition leader to make his mark during an international crisis.

"It's a very difficult time for Iain Duncan Smith to stamp his individuality - if he has any - because we are at war," he told Today.

Morris dancing?

"He may well be a cross-dressing Morris dancer but for the war effort it's important he comes across as a balding guards officer."

Mr Scarfe says the Tory leader has a blank face

Mr Scarfe, whose cartoons have made it into the National Portrait Gallery, suggested that failed leadership candidates Michael Portillo or Ken Clarke had more potential.

"I'm very sorry to lose Hague with his 16 pints a day beer-swilling lad-of-the-people image," he said.

"Then there was Portillo... with his lips and his hair and his ears, and then Ken Clarke with his poached-egg eyes and what do we get? Iain Duncan Smith, who as far as I can see has a kind of a blank face.

DIY satire

"Maybe I should just leave a blank circle and the readers could fill in their own features for the time being until he does something," Mr Scarfe added.

He went on to explain that when Ted Heath was first made leader of the Tory party he was a virtual unknown.

Mr Scarfe first portrayed him as an empty room with the words 'Ted who?'.

Sir Edward, as he is now known, went on to become prime minister and one of the best recognised political figures of his generation - not least because of satire.