Tory meltdown: Their leader is too dull to be a waxwork

Iain Duncan Smith suffered the ultimate indignity last night when Madame Tussaud's decided he was too uncharismatic to be immortalised in wax. The snub leaves him as the first leader of a main political party without an image on display in the 117-year history of the London attraction.

A Tussaud's spokeswoman said: "We want to get people emotionally involved, whether it's laughter, sadness or whatever. We have always done the three party leaders, but we thought, 'Hang on, is this guy really going to provoke any excitement in people?' "

She added: "We may make a waxwork if he does something a bit more interesting."

The decision on Mr Duncan Smith marks a change of heart by Tussaud's, who had said they would call him in for a sitting if he won the leadership contest. He himself laughed off the news. He said: "Who wants to be a waxwork, anyway?"

His predecessor, William Hague, was modelled by Tussaud's soon after taking over from John Major in 1997. Mr Hague's body has now been melted down, with just his head on display, alongside the likes of Diana Dors and Geoffrey Boycott, in the museum's "interesting has-beens" section.

Mr Major's likeness has also been taken off display, leaving Margaret Thatcher as the most recent Tory leader on show. The most recent addition to the museum is the Channel 4 chat-show host Graham Norton.