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Cameron seeking to rally Tories Cameron seeks to inspire Britain
(31 minutes later)
David Cameron is rallying his party for a possible autumn election by pledging to sweep away Gordon Brown's "cynical" brand of "old politics". David Cameron has said he wants the Conservatives to inspire people with a message of optimism and hope for Britain's future in the "new world".
In a make-or-break end of conference speech, the Tory leader will challenge the prime minister to go to the polls. The Tory leader said they "should be proud" of their NHS and climate change campaigns, contrasting them with Gordon Brown's "cynical... old politics".
He will say he is an optimist who wants to give people power over their lives, and urged members to inspire voters. He is making the speech without notes, a decision he said at the start might make "it messy - but it will be me".
He began by saying he would deliver the speech without notes or autocue: "So it might be messy, but it'll be me." Mr Cameron is seeking to get his party ready to fight any snap election.
Mr Cameron's speech in Blackpool follows Tory claims, denied by Labour, that Mr Brown played politics by visiting troops in Iraq on Tuesday. Change was not about winning elections but "getting ready to govern", he said.
The Tory leader said Mr Brown should not have announced cuts in troop numbers to the media before telling MPs. I say - God, we have got to do better than that David Cameron class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/7025425.stm">At-a-glance: Tory conference
He reminded party members he had last addressed them in Blackpool when he had made his pitch to be their leader in 2005 - a speech which famously propelled him from outsider to favourite for the job.
"Today I want to make a speech about why I want to lead our country," he said.
"I'm afraid it's going to be a bit longer and I haven't got an autocue. I haven't got a script. I have just got a few notes. It might be a bit messy, but it will be me."
New prioritiesNew priorities
The Conservatives have used their week in Blackpool to set out the policies they believe can win them the next election - including lifting the ceiling on inheritance tax from £300,000 to £1m and cutting stamp duty for first-time buyers.The Conservatives have used their week in Blackpool to set out the policies they believe can win them the next election - including lifting the ceiling on inheritance tax from £300,000 to £1m and cutting stamp duty for first-time buyers.
We have to change from the old politics of easy promises and disappointment to politics you can believe in David Cameron At-a-glance: Tory conference Analysis: Tory mood
With the party trailing in the opinion polls, Mr Cameron will need to convince voters the Tories have what it takes to deliver changes in health, education, law and order and security.With the party trailing in the opinion polls, Mr Cameron will need to convince voters the Tories have what it takes to deliver changes in health, education, law and order and security.
Speaking without notes, he is expected to tell the conference: "This is a new Conservative Party with new priorities.
"There's been a lot of talk about lurching. So, let me make it clear, there will be no lurch to the right, no lurch to the left.
"There's only one direction for me and that's forward to the future."
He will say Mr Brown's speech at last week's Labour conference was "the old politics at its worst".
'Calculated pitch'
"It wasn't just that we have heard it all before - literally heard it all before - simplistic short-term pledges rehashed and reannounced, with absolutely no indication of how they would be delivered," he will say.
"It wasn't just the cynicism of announcing things that Gordon Brown himself must know he can't deliver.
"It was the carefully calculated pitch to the 4% of voters in the middle who might switch this way or that."
HAVE YOUR SAY I want a government that can give me optimism and hope for the future, not just political stunts and more empty promises of jam tomorrow Mike, London Send us your commentsHAVE YOUR SAY I want a government that can give me optimism and hope for the future, not just political stunts and more empty promises of jam tomorrow Mike, London Send us your comments
He will say the Conservatives "had to do better than that" and reach out to disaffected ex-voters who "don't believe a word of it any more". Mr Cameron said last week's Labour conference speech by Gordon Brown had been cynical old politics.
"We have to inspire them. We have to change from the old politics of easy promises and disappointment to politics you can believe in. He said: "Boy, has this guy got a plan. It's to appeal to those 4% of people in the marginal seats with a dog-whistle about immigration here, about crime there, wrap yourself up in the flag and maybe you convince people you are on their side.
"That means politics based on belief." "But I say, 'God, we have got to do better than that'. What about the 40% of our fellow citizens who have just given up on politics?
Mr Cameron will say he is an optimist who wants to give people "power over their own lives" and that meant halting the growth of the state and dealing with crime and social breakdown. "We have got to inspire them. People want the politics of belief and that means politics they can really believe in."
Wednesday's speech at Blackpool's Winter Gardens is a return to the scene of Mr Cameron's 2005 party leadership triumph, when he went from rank outsider to favourite after delivering a 20-minute speech without notes.