DISSIDENTS trying to oust beleaguered Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith must now "put up or shut up", leading Suffolk Tories warned last night.

DISSIDENTS trying to oust beleaguered Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith must now "put up or shut up", leading Suffolk Tories warned last night.

Senior MPs in the county were speaking after Mr Duncan Smith challenged conspirators to force a confidence vote in his leadership by tomorrow evening – or call a halt to the "damaging episode".

Shadow trade secretary and Suffolk South MP Tim Yeo said the plotting must stop, adding: "It's time for them to put up or shut up."

He said: "This has been going on for a long time now and there is no doubt it is causing damage. There is a procedure for MPs to force a vote of confidence and if that hasn't happened, they should rally round him."

In a dramatic statement released by Mr Duncan Smith, he said that if the necessary 25 MPs had not demanded a vote by tomorrow's deadline, those planning to oust him should accept defeat.