Major: Tories now a ‘fringe’ party in North

The former Tory Prime Minister warned his party against “navel-gazing” on issues such as Europe, and called on leaders to focus on helping people escape poverty in order to start winning back support in “no-go areas” such as Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool.

Sir John, 70, used his appearance at a lunch of Westminster journalists to hit out against the Right of his party, and made clear “much, much, much more” needs to be done on key issues such as housing, energy prices and welfare reform.

But he praised David Cameron for fighting to pull the party onto the centre ground.

“David Cameron is seeking to reclaim territory that’s at the very heart of the values that made me join the Conservatives in the first place,” the former PM said. “He is absolutely right to do so.

“If we Tories navel gaze and only pander to our comfort zone, we will never win general elections.

“All the core delivers is the wooden spoon. We need to win back seats in the towns and cities, in Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow – and it is do-able.”

Sir John, who succeeded Margaret Thatcher to become Prime Minister between 1990 and 1997, made a passionate speech which called on politicians to stand up for Britain’s poor.

“We need to help people move on and up and out of whatever circumstance is holding them back,” he said. “There’s no point in telling people to get on their bike if there is nowhere to live when they get there.

“It is very easy, criminally easy, to overlook these silent citizens.

“They don’t demonstrate, they don’t make a fuss, they just get on with their lives. They struggle to pay the bills, they think carefully before having a family holiday.”

Making repeated reference to his own working-class roots, he went on: “How do I know about these people? Because I grew up with them. They were my neighbours, the silent have-nots.

“They are not high-fliers, not financially secure. They’re the dignified poor or near-poor, and to the shame of decades of politicians – and I include myself in this – there are still millions and millions of them.”

The Government’s focus, he said, must be on issues such as housing and education, and he begged Tories “not to be afraid to show that we have a heart and a social conscience.”

He added: “If we do, we might not only regain seats that are at present no-go areas for Conservatives, but far more importantly we might transform lives.”

Sir John warned Chancellor George Osborne of taking too much pride in low interest rates, which he said were “essential” for the economic recovery but “crucify the prudent long-term saver”.

He also warned Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith over his welfare cuts.

“Iain Duncan Smith is trying to reform benefits, and I truly wish him well,” Sir John said of his one-time foe, with whom he clashed repeatedly over the Maastricht Treaty in the 1990s.

“But it’s enormously complicated, and unless he is very lucky, which he may not be, or a genius - which last time I looked was unproven - he may get some of it wrong.

“I hope Iain is wise enough to listen to a wide range of opinion - because some of his critics will be right. If he listens only to the bean counters... then he will fail.”

Sir John gave a damning assessment of the Tories’ current electoral standing, 21 years after he delivered the party’s last overall majority. He gave Labour equally short shrift, however, pointing to the party’s haemorrhaging of seats across the south of England.

“In the North, the Conservatives, and in the South, Labour, have become fringe parties,” he said. “In terms of seats elected, neither Labour nor the Conservatives can truly claim any longer to be a national party.”

Sir John said part of the reason for the Tories’ electoral difficulties were the unfair political boundaries, which give Labour a significant advantage and mean Britain is no longer a “functioning democracy”.

He attacked the Lib Dems for blocking proposed boundary reform, but praised Nick Clegg for making the “difficult decision” to enter coalition in 2010.

“I don’t join in the general denigration there has been over the last few years of Nick Clegg,” Sir John said. “I think to put himself in the difficult position he did in the national interest was the right thing to do.”