TORY leader Iain Duncan Smith won himself breathing space in his battle for survival with a relaxed and confident speech that won over a conference dogged by talk of plots to ditch him.

The embattled leader was rewarded with a remarkable 19 standing ovations as he delivered a savage attack on Tony Blair and a passionate plea to his critics to "Get on board, or get out of the way".

The warm applause of delegates appeared to send out a message to the plotters that Mr Duncan Smith should be allowed to "get on with the job" of taking on a Labour government with its own troubles.

But even as he was speaking, it emerged that Tory MPs suspected of plotting are to be called in for a dressing down from the party's chief whip.

There are rumours that up to 15 of the 25 MPs needed to trigger a vote of confidence have contacted Sir Michael Spicer, chair of the 1922 backbench committee.

Others are apparently set to decide whether to strike over the next two weeks.

In a 65-minute speech aimed squarely at doubting delegates rather than a wider TV audience, Mr Duncan Smith told them : "I won't allow anything or anyone to stand in my way."

He challenged them: "I say to everyone here today: You either want my mission, or you want Tony Blair. There is no third way.

"To those who doubt and to those who deliberate, I say this: Don't work for Tony Blair. Get on board, or get out of the way, for we have work to do."

Mr Duncan Smith also played on the image he created at last year's conference of the "Quiet Man" - warning the Prime Minister that even quiet men can get angry.

"The quiet man is here to stay and he's turning up the volume," he said.

He delighted delegates with a convincing impersonation of the trademark cheesy Blair grin. "Watch out Rory Bremner!" he cried.

But the speech was among the most vicious of any party conference, describing Mr Blair as a liar, an alien from "BlairWorld" and coming within a whisker of blaming him for the suicide of Dr David Kelly.

At the centre of Mr Duncan Smith's message was an insistence that he had "delivered" a raft of radical policies that had placed victory at the next election within the Tories' grasp.

The elderly would be "respected" with higher pensions and good schools and hospitals would no longer be available only to the "wealthy who can buy choice".

Mr Duncan Smith said: "All of Labour's policies take power away from people. Labour always say 'Trust us'. Conservatives will be different, we'll trust you."