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WILLIAM Hague yesterday reached out to inner-city Britain in a bold bid to win over the voters of the North.

The Tory leader signalled a bid to recapture the backing of so-called one-nation Conservatives by launching "a bold new social agenda".

On the opening day of the party's conference in Bournemouth, he said tackling the problems of urban health, housing, education and crime, would be at the heart of his party's programme for government.

In a clear challenge to Tony Blair's efforts to tackle the North-South divide, Mr Hague promised a Regeneration Minister to co-ordinate Government policy across the range of issues.

Mr Hague, MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, signalled his bid to shatter the idea that the Tories could not win Northern seats.

Launching the "Believing in Our Cities" policy, he declared that the Conservatives were now ready for power "because we are ready to govern for all the people".

The move came as former premier John Major signalled that the party had to reach out more to the disadvantaged and ethnic minorities.

However, Mr Major told a conference fringe meeting that he pledged to fight for the Conservatives at the next election with "no ifs, no buts, no qualifications".

The new inner-cities plan, unveiled before the conference opened, was carefully designed to counter criticism that Mr Hague had seemed to preside over a right-wing agenda with no room for the likes of Mr Major, ex-Chancellor Kenneth Clarke.

Mr Hague said: "I believe we are ready to be a Government because we are ready to govern for all the people - and that means tackling the problems of inner cities.

"At this conference we will be spelling out the bold social agenda which is at the heart of our outline manifesto".

He said he wanted to tear down the worst tower blocks which have blighted families' lives, put "cops in shops" with officers having desks in local stores, and set up Regeneration Companies to drive forward investment in those areas.

Tories might not have been expected to take inner city causes to heart, admitted Mr Hague.

But he added: "Millions of people live and bring up children in our inner cities. The cultural life of the nation beats to a distinctly urban rhythm."

Mr Hague's move came as an opinion poll in The Sun put Labour seven points ahead of the Tories. And a newspaper poll of leading businessmen carried grim news for Mr Hague, with only one in four of those questioned believing he was the right man to lead the party. Almost half preferred pro-European Ken Clarke.