ONE big question hung over Tory leader William Hague as his party's conference began in Bournemouth: can the Conservatives win the confidence of the electorate?

Matters have certainly perked up for the leader of the Opposition, though his rise in the opinion polls has had more to do with the Government's problems than his own popularity. Mr Hague has been riding a wave of discontent over issues such as petrol, pensions and that monumental millstone, the Millennium Dome. But now we have to ask: can he stay up there or is he bound to fall off?

William Hague has taken on a number of different forms. Fleetingly, he was the baseball cap-wearing trendy who thought the Tories should be more inclusive. That incarnation did not survive. Before long, Mr Hague removed the hat, shaved his head and made sure any suggestions of liberalism were shorn too. Enter Bloke Hague, sustained by judo practice and tales of alcoholic bravado, boasting somewhat improbably of 14-pint drinking bouts when he was young.

Mr Hague's laddish persona, combined with a dash of old-style Conservative toughness and lack of tolerance, has served him well enough. Now his character has been given another spin, thanks to his latest secret weapon - his wife. Smiling pictures of William and Ffion Hague have been wheeled out to clash with all those smiling pictures of Tony and Cherie Blair. As in the presidential elections in the United States, it seems the political wife is becoming part of the campaign.

But behind the smiles, tough questions have to be asked. While William Hague is certainly a good and combative Parliamentary performer, and while he may appeal to his party's hard-core supporters, he still has much to prove to the country at large. He has to show he is more than the sum of our disaffection with Tony Blair. He has to be an appealing politician, not an opportunistic hi-jacker of passing bandwagons. He has to be his own man, not a purveyor of stale tit-for-tattery.

In short, he has much to do. Is he up to it? Of that we are not yet sure.