Arnold Schwarzenegger will bring Hollywood glitz to Tory party conference

But action hero-turned-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to make do with the less obviously glamorous attractions of Blackpool's Golden Mile this summer after agreeing to attend the Conservative Party Conference.

David Cameron hopes the star guest will add some much-need glitz to the annual gathering.

In the recent past, the party has had to rely on celebrity supporters with what might politely be called less high profiles, including comedian Jim Davidson, singer Patti Boulaye and former TV presenter Esther McVey.

Labour, by contrast, has boasted appearances from such luminaries as Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton at its annual get-together.

As well as boosting the Tories' glamour count, Mr Cameron also believes Schwarzenegger's speech will help him terminate Gordon Brown's green credentials.

The Republican governor, whose state amounts to the world's seventh-largest economy, is to deliver a keynote address on climate change in Blackpool after apparently being impressed by the Tory leader's focus on the environment.

His agreement to address the gathering was seen in Westminster as a coup for Mr Cameron, who said he was "delighted" to have secured such a heavyweight guest.

Tony Blair has courted Schwarzenegger assiduously, but had to travel to Los Angeles to meet him last summer for a discussion on how to tackle the problems of global warming. The pair signed a joint accord promoting research into cleaner-burning fuels and technologies.

Then, earlier this year, Schwarzenegger praised Mr Blair as the "real action hero" in a joint TV interview to mark the launch of the Government's Climate Change Bill.

Unlike his boss George Bush, Schwarzenegger is seen as a an ecopioneer. Under the governorship of the Terminator star, California became the first state in the U.S. to pass legislation imposing a mandatory cap on environmentally damaging 'greenhouse gas' emissions.