By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent in Blackpool

Day one of the Tory party conference and there is already an air of desperation around.

Senior Tories have delivered a series of "helpful" comments basically calling on Iain Duncan Smith to get his act together and start opposing.

They are tearing their hair out over the apparent inability of Mr Duncan Smith to capitalise on the government's woes.

Iain Duncan Smith in jovial mood before the party conference

Meanwhile, it is claimed, his internal critics have, in their desperation, launched a smear campaign aimed at destabilising his leadership.

It is certainly the case that someone, somewhere has been planting stories about the running of his office.

He has dismissed them and threatened legal action against anyone who repeats them - clearly furious that he is again under fire, despite having seen off previous threats to his position.

And the air of desperation is certainly not emanating from Mr Duncan Smith or his camp.

He has approached the Blackpool conference in fighting, upbeat mood, claiming he will see off all his detractors, oust Tony Blair from No 10 and become prime minister at the next election.

And he is coming up with a fistful of new policies aimed at grabbing the attention and support of voters.

Thatcher's idea

Like his opposition to student fees, his plan to re-link pensions to earnings seems a sure fire winner.

The fact that it was Margaret Thatcher who originally broke the link is being brushed aside with the claim that "things have moved on".

Similarly, he appears to be returning to the always-fertile territory of taxation, pledging to once again make the Tories a party of tax cuts.

So why the desperation and where is it coming from?

Quite simply it is from Tories who are convinced - with the evidence from opinion polls - that their leader is a loser but who have, so far, failed to find a way of removing him.

This group - and it is a large one - seems to fall into two camps.

There is the section that believe they have got just enough time to dump their leader before the next election

There are those who have already written off the next election and believe only the resignation of Mr Duncan Smith after such a defeat can lead to the election of a winning leader for the following election.

Who that might be, however, is the cause of much head scratching.

This section appears to have simply disengaged from their party temporarily.

Then there is the section that believe they have got just enough time to dump their leader before the next election.

But they still have the problem of choosing an alternative and then ensuring that person is accepted by the entire party.

The thing these camps have in common is the belief that their leader simply has not got what it takes.