Sacked Tory chairman David Davis hit out at his enemies who he said launched an "orchestrated campaign of character assassination" against him.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Davis said the action had damaged the party.

Anyone who knows me will recognise that the orchestrated campaign of character assassination was a tissue of lies

David Davis MP

A series of anonymous leaks about his future, were made prior to Mr Davis's exit to be replaced by Theresa May earlier this week.

The MP, who was given the new job of shadowing Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was speaking publicly for the first time after returning from a holiday in Florida.

'Victim'

He said the time surrounding his sacking had been a "bad fortnight for the Conservative Party".

"Anyone who knows me will recognise that the orchestrated campaign of character assassination was a tissue of lies," he said in the statement to the Press Association.

"It was intended to harm me but the real victim has been the Conservative Party."

And he said the damage wreaked by such vendettas could not be allowed to hurt the party again.

Returning home to his Haltemprice and Howden constituency, Mr Davis attempted to draw a line under the reshuffle affair.

Forth: Persuaded Mr Davis to stay on the frontbench

He pledged to continue serving Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith to the best of his ability.

"I have accepted the job of shadowing the Deputy Prime Minister and I will continue to serve the party and our leader to the best of my ability."

Responding to the statement, Mr Duncan Smith said he was pleased Mr Davis was taking up the job of shadowing John Prescott.

He said: "This is going to be a very challenging brief for David but he is exactly the right man for the job."

He said he had done a "good job" as party chairman.

Mr Davis was holidaying in Florida when he was told of the news he was being ousted as Tory chairman.

Lost favour

On Friday David Whincup, chairman of Mr Davis' Haltemprice and Howden constituency, said it was said the MP could not have been given the news of his reshuffle "face to face".

His defence came as newspaper reports claim Mr Davis had to be talked out of resigning from the shadow cabinet.

There had also been reports that Mr Davis lost favour because he had failed to drive through reforms to ensure the party had greater numbers of women and ethnic minority candidates.

I will play my full part in the recovery of our party's fortunes

David Davis MP

Mr Davis said on Saturday his fight against Labour in general and Mr Prescott in particular would resume "immediately",

"I will play my full part in the recovery of our party's fortunes that we owe to our members, our supporters and the country," he added.

Target

His call for unity in the party comes as it was confirmed Iain Duncan Smith's chief of staff Jenny Ungless was quitting after apparently being seen as a target for by traditionalists for her modernising ways.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Tory peer Lord Lamont spoke out against the anonymous briefings prior to Mr Davis' s removal.

He said: "It doesn't do any good to have a lot of briefing against a particular person.

"It doesn't create a good impression and I don't think that was a good feature of it."