Horsham MP Francis Maude has returned to the shadow Cabinet after being appointed chairman of the Conservative Party.

His promotion by Tory leader Michael Howard marked the end of a four-year stint on the backbenches for the 51-year-old.

It was also a significant endorsement of a long-standing Tory moderniser who warned at the weekend that the party had to reach out to younger voters if it wanted to return to power.

Mr Maude immediately set out to reposition the party to appeal to a broader base of voters.

He said: "We haven't changed enough. We need to show that we understand modern Britain"

The move came amid a dramatic reshuffle of the shadow Cabinet in which Mr Howard promoted the party's rising young stars to senior positions.

George Osborne, 33, was named shadow chancellor and David Cameron, 38, is the new shadow education secretary.

Both are modernisers seen as leadership material when Mr Howard stands down.

Mr Maude and former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who is also from the modernising wing of the party, were the only older hands who returned to the party's top table.

The reshuffle sets the scene for the leadership race, which was set in motion with Mr Howard's recent announcement that he would not lead the party into the next general election.