Clegg tells Lib-Dems: We're on our way to power

He tore up his party's economic policy to fight the Tories, pledging tax cuts for 28 million people including Middle England.

He also made a brazen appeal to disillusioned Labour voters, claiming his party was the only one able to deliver social justice.

Echoing former Liberal leader Lord Steel's famous words in 1981 - "Go back to your constituencies and prepare for Government" - Mr Clegg ignited delegates' hopes that they will soon play a role running Britain.

"I can't tell you every step on the road for us as a party," he said at the party's Bournemouth rally. "But I can tell you where we're headed. Government."

With a Cameron-like performance, wandering around the stage, he sought to shore up Lib-Dem defences against the surge in Tory support by offering tax cuts for people on middle incomes, turning his back on a bigger state and opening the door to more free market solutions for public services. A less zealous pro-European policy was also touted.

But he also sought to woo millions of voters who had backed Labour in 1997. Pledging tax cuts for the low paid, he trumpeted his plans as "the most redistributive" ever in Britain, with the wealthy paying more tax and eyepoppingly higher levies for the super rich.

Mr Clegg, 41, stressed that Britain now needs a government of "fairness" to protect millions from the "firestorm ignited by reckless bankers and fuelled by complacent politicians."

He is not putting a timescale on any Lib-Dem rise to power but his party could be coalition partner within 20 months. Mr Clegg reserved his strongest attack for Mr Cameron but said: "Labour is finished. They're the living dead, no heart, no mind, no soul. They are a zombie government." He accused his Tory rival of "born-toruleconceit" and offering tax cuts for only the better off.

Father-of-two Mr Clegg also said he was looking forward to his third child arriving in February: "Miriam and I can't wait to be parents again."