Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has said his party is undertaking its most aggressive policy rethink since before Margaret Thatcher came to power.

With parties on both left and right debating a new political climate, former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson has also said that in purely economic terms "we are all Thatcherite now".

We must connect with issues that are disturbing voters ... this does not mean pandering to prejudice or headline-grabbing;

Peter Mandelson Former minister

Mr Duncan Smith is in Washington as leaders of centre right parties gather to discuss how they can build on their recent election victories.

How to counter that trend formed the focus of talks by key centre-left figures, including Mr Mandelson, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, at a weekend gathering.

Right's 'resurgence'

Centre-right leaders are trying to mimic the electoral success of US President George Bush, who is hosting a White House dinner for the International Democrat Union (IDU) gathering.

Mr Duncan Smith believes Mr Bush's victory in 2000 is part of a centre-right resurgence mirrored in countries like Australia, Italy and Spain.

He will be trying to learn the lessons of how to follow suit in the UK but he denied his party was taking too much time to come up with new policies.

Duncan Smith says Labour tries to control too much

"We are getting a move on," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I do not think we are wasting a single day.

"I have possibly the most aggressive and most structured review process that has been put in place by a Conservative leader since Mrs Thatcher before 1979.

"We are bringing in people from outside, people who are practitioners.

Dangers of rushing

"We are learning what we think the important lesson is, which is what do people genuinely feel they need on the ground and how do we deliver that."

Rushing that process would mean making new mistakes rather than learning from past errors, argued Mr Duncan Smith.

Clinton joined Blair at the left's gathering

The Tory leader said his party would take a "self-denying ordinance" in government to make sure power was given to front line workers.

The Washington meeting of centre-right leaders in the IDU is being chaired by former Tory leader William Hague.

Mr Hague told BBC Radio 4's World This Weekend programme on Sunday there was a clear trend of centre-right parties notching up electoral success.

Britain was just at an earlier point in the political cycle, he argued.

Third Way lives on

The centre-left's weekend seminar session in Buckinghamshire was chaired by Peter Mandelson.

In an article for Monday's Times newspaper, the former Northern Ireland secretary argues there is no serious challenge on the left to "Third Way" politics.

"This is hardly surprising as globalisation punishes hard any country that tries to run its economy by ignoring the realities of the market or prudent public finances," he says.

Tackling popular fears

"In this strictly narrow sense, and in the urgent need to remove rigidities and incorporate flexibility in capital, product and labour markets, we are all 'Thatcherite' now."

That comment may anger Labour backbenchers, although Mr Mandelson stresses the need for the social justice he says Lady Thatcher did not offer.

The Hartlepool MP, who is still close to Tony Blair, argues a strong emphasis on "respect and mutual responsibility" in tackling crime and nuisance behaviour is also essential.

"Fundamentally, we must connect with issues that are disturbing voters and not vacate space to be occupied by the Right," he says.

"This does not mean pandering to prejudice or headline-grabbing; it means advancing workable policies that reflect the essentially tolerant values of the majority."