Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has had a rough ride since the day he succeeded William Hague.

But now for the first time he believes he has Tony Blair and the Labour Government on the run.

On issue after issue, from education to asylum, he believes Labour is looking vulnerable while the Tories are presenting distinctive alternatives.

Despite having had only four hours' sleep after a late return from Edinburgh and an early breakfast meeting, Mr Duncan Smith was looking calm and relaxed as he prepared for a full day visit to Sussex today.

I caught up with him on his way to Conservative Central Office in Smith Square, London, looking calm despite a hectic programme.

There was no sign of the nervous cough that sometimes inhibits him at Prime Minister's question time in the Commons.

His programme today includes visiting Rudyard Kipling School in Woodingdean, meeting councillors and candidates in Brighton and Hove and going to St Barnabas Hospice in Worthing.

Mr Duncan Smith has education at the top of his agenda. That is where he feels, despite Tony Blair's pledge, the Government is weakest.

He said: "More than 30,000 people a year are leaving school with no qualifications and that is appalling.

The Tory leader said there was a big gap between Government promises on education and the failure of many schools to meet their targets.

Labour last year pledged billions of pounds for a big improvement of public services such as health and education.

But Mr Duncan Smith said: "I know no one who thinks these services are any better."

He thinks asylum is such a big issue that he devoted a Press conference to the issue on Tuesday, outlining the "tough but fair" stance he says Tories will take.

Mr Duncan Smith said: "To deal with the threat, we must make our borders secure against people who come to this country only to harm us.

"Any examination of our current entry arrangements shows that if someone with evil intent is determined to come to Britain, it is frighteningly likely for them to be admitted.

"Even when, rarely, we identify someone as a threat to our security, the Government is incapable of asserting itself as our guardian. This must stop.

"We must secure our borders. When people present themselves for entry, they should be admitted to our towns and cities only if we are confident they pose no security threat.

"That requires security vetting of all people claiming asylum in the UK. That vetting should be conducted quickly and it must be done in secure conditions.

"We must also ensure we have all the powers necessary to deport those who fail to get through the vetting process. The message to the terrorist must be: Stay at home or you will be sent home."

But Mr Duncan Smith added: "We need radical changes to our asylum system as a whole so the genuine refugee is helped and the impostor is not.

"We need to ensure this country is able to deliver a safer and fairer asylum system."

The same attitude is being taken towards drug abuse, which he said was a major problem in Brighton and Hove.

He said Labour was blowing hot and cold on the drugs issue and added: "Too many young people don't know what is legal and what isn't.

"We need to get kids off drugs and give them proper opportunities for rehabilitation."

Mr Duncan Smith thinks Britain should study the system in Sweden where rehabilitation begins immediately someone commits a drugs offence.

After visiting a drug-ravaged estate in Glasgow, the Tory leader was moved when a woman told him: "We don't want soft words. We need hard choices."

One of the main reasons for his visit to Sussex, once a Tory heartland, is to rally the troops before the May local elections.

Some commentators have seen these contests as a defining moment for his leadership after languishing in the opinion polls.

Mr Duncan Smith is hoping to make gains but was cautious about their extent, pointing out the party did well the last time seats were contested in 1999.

He hopes Tories will continue to out-perform their opinion poll ratings in real contests.

As for the Lib Dems, he says they side with Labour on most votes in Parliament and are in partial power in both Wales and Scotland.

He said: "They are all things to all people.

"In one area they might pretend to be Conservative and in another to the left of Labour."

He said Tory councils were generally judged as efficient in a recent Audit Commission review and most charged lower council tax.

One big issue in the elections is likely to be John Prescott's insistence that more houses are built in Sussex against the wishes of local people.

Mr Duncan Smith said this was typical of the Government thinking it knew best.

With a general election not likely for at least two years, his job is to harry the Government on its weak points and to keep up confidence in a party battered by two general election defeats.

That is why he is taking the time to visit Sussex today, in the hope that it will soon return to its traditional blue roots.

He said: "We shall let local people decide."