The Sunday papers on the Conservatives

Things aren’t getting better for the Conservative Party:

Anxious Tories turn heat on Cameron

PRESSURE is growing on David Cameron to embark on a shake-up at his party headquarters amid plunging opinion poll ratings … “Nothing is going right at the moment and it is difficult to see a way out of it,” said one insider. [Sunday Times]

As Brown soars in the polls, a split opens up between Cameron and his Shadow Chancellor

The first signs of a split between David Cameron and George Osborne emerged as the Conservatives blamed each other for Gordon Brown’s surge in the polls … But there was undisguised fury with Shadow Minister Grant Shapps, who was blamed for the decision to call the party ‘David Cameron’s Conservatives’ in the Ealing by-election at which the Tories came a disastrous third. [Mail on Sunday]

Cameron insists he won’t wobble

Alan Duncan, a key moderniser in the shadow cabinet, is leading the charge against Cameron for failing to set a strong strategic direction for the party … His criticisms directly contradict Cameron … One senior Tory feared that Cameron’s intervention was a sign of weakness as he attempted to appease the Tory right at a difficult moment. [The Observer]

CAMERON ‘FAILING TO REACH VOTERS’

David Cameron is failing to reach out to voters in the North and Midlands, a former Tory frontbencher warned. [Sunday Express]

And one from yesterday:

Tories are revolting
Davis allies turn on reeling Cameron

Civil war broke out in the Conservative Party yesterday as senior Tory MPs publicly blasted David Cameron. Die-hard Derek Conway said there were “generational difficulties” with the new leader.

He claimed the views of older Tories had been forgotten in plans to rebrand the party.

Veteran MP Bob Spink accused Cameron of relying on gimmicks and “wet behind the ears” advisers.

And a third MP, Philip Davies, gave him just six months to turn round the party’s plummeting ratings.

All the MPs are close to Shadow Home Secretary David Davis – Cameron’s leadership rival. And there are now fears within Conservative high command they will face a “summer of discontent” with increased restlessness about Mr Cameron’s leadership. [The Mirror]