Three days after taking over, Cameron set up six commissions to guide party policy, giving Duncan Smith the job of chairing the Social Justice Commission. Among those who view Duncan Smith as one of the most disastrous leaders in the Tory Party's history, the appointment may have caused a few raised eyebrows. But to anyone who has followed his career since he was replaced by Michael Howard in October 2003, it makes perfect sense.
"When I left the leadership I wanted to complete what I'd started on social policy," Duncan Smith recalls. "I set up the Centre for Social Justice in Lambeth, working with a lot of small community groups in the toughest areas of Britain." Rather than returning to the shadow cabinet just yet, he feels that chairing the policy group allows him to continue his "mission" in Lambeth and at the same time challenge the Conservatives to embrace social justice.
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