It is wrong to say that there was a single "road to Damascus" moment for IDS, the "poverty-fighter". His 2001 pitch for the Tory leadership included a strong emphasis on civil-society-based solutions to poverty. But a visit to Glasgow's Easterhouse, early in his leadership, crystallised his purpose. Here was an estate where poverty was passed from one generation to another. Hope was as dead as the state was dominant. As he toured that estate on a wet, grey day, he observed a child's discarded teddy bear alongside the paraphernalia of a drug addict. He didn't decide that day to make social justice a part of his political mission. That commitment already existed. He did, however, decide that fighting poverty should be the number one purpose of his politics.

The solutions that the CSJ subsequently developed have always been rooted in the life experiences of the kind of people IDS met in Easterhouse. He believes that every social problem is being solved by somebody, somewhere, and you just need to find that somebody or organisation and learn from them. The Centre's alliance of effective poverty-fighters has been engaged in that search for five years and has developed an unrivalled database of groups that have successfully fought every social ill such as drug addiction, homelessness and long-term unemployment. It's why it calls itself a "do tank", rather than a "think tank".

IDS is now in a position to "do" rather than "think" but his welfare-reforming goal of "making work pay" is expensive. When Treasury coffers were overflowing, Gordon Brown failed to eliminate the disincentives to work that face low-income people. Duncan Smith and the Chancellor, George Osborne, are attempting the same massive task at a time when Britain has run out of money. If success were a matter of willpower the battle would already be won. To achieve success, IDS needs to find skills of teamsmanship that this unclubbable maverick has rarely demonstrated.

If he succeeds, it won't just be Britain's poorest communities that will benefit. More than any other Conservative politician, IDS understands that conservatism can only flourish in relatively wealthy nations if it acts with its heart as well as its head. A decisive portion of floating voters don't just want a government that is good for them; they also want a government that is good for their neighbours, at home and further afield.

An aroma of good intentions has lifted entities like Labour, the NHS and the UN much higher than their performances merit. People have been willing to forgive them their faults because they are seen as founded in worthy goals. If IDS and this Conservative-led government can deliver welfare reform, if they become the champion of a new generation of poverty-fighting charities, the Left is in trouble. A Conservative Party that is as socially concerned as it is economically effective will once again become Britain's natural party of government.