IDS fell for the same reason as Ceausescu: his security apparatus turned against him

For a party which all agree is unlikely to win a general election in the foreseeable future, the Conservatives arouse disproportionate interest. For weeks, an unprecedentedly open dispute between Mr Blair and Mr Brown has racked what has long looked like becoming the natural party of government.

But hardly anyone is really interested. Nearly everyone assumes that an unprecedentedly open dispute between Mr Blair and Mr Brown always racks the natural party of government. But the Conservatives? Now there is an interesting situation, everyone seems to agree. Not just what is going to happen but will having a ‘big beast’ of a leader make all the difference, and so on? People still seem to be interested in what happened. What brought about the fall of the little beast? How exactly did they manage to rid themselves of Mr Duncan Smith?

The orthodox answer is: because he was not up to it.