'You can trust me'

The Tory leader claimed that at a time of economic crisis, the public were less worried about detailed policies than the values and judgment of politicians who wanted to take power.

"Of course your plans are important, but it's the unexpected and unpredicted events that can dominate a government. So people want to know what values you bring to big situations and big decisions that can crop up on your watch," he said.

"And people want to know about your character - the way you make decisions; the way that you operate."

But he stressed that "my values are Conservative values", saying that his core beliefs included sound money, low taxes and social responsibility.

In a bid to use his youth as an asset rather than a liability, Mr Cameron paid tribute to his wife Samantha and said that his family was at the centre of his life.

"I'm a 41-year-old father of three who thinks that family is the most important thing there is. For me. For my country," he said.

The Tory leader stressed that he was "not an ideologue" but held to some key principles: patriotism, a belief in public service and strong defence.

"But I am also a child of my time. I want a clean environment as well as a safe one. I believe that quality of life matters as much as quantity of money.

"I recognise that we'll never be truly rich while so much of the world is so poor."

He added that he was ready to "do difficult and unpopular things for the long-term good of the country"

NHS

Mr Cameron accused Labour of "ripping out" the soul of the NHS and claimed the Tories are now the true protectors of the health service.

The Government had presided over 11 years of "superficial, short-term tinkering" but had failed to make the NHS respond to patients rather than Whitehall and had just pumped in extra money.

"Labour have taken our most treasured national institution, ripped out its soul and replaced it with targets, directives, management consultants and computers," he said. The Tory leader then told delegates how the wife of one of his constituents, John Woods, had died in hospital after catching MRSA. Mr Woods described her treatment as "like something out of a 17th-century asylum, not a 21st-century £90 billion health service." As his wife was dying, she turned to him and said: "I never thought it would be like this."

The Tory leader wrote to Health Secretary Alan Johnson about the Woods and got a letter back explaining the NHS complaints procedure.

"Four ways to make a complaint...but not one way for my constituent's wife to die with dignity," Mr Cameron said.

EDUCATION

Mr Cameron pledged to "break open" the state monopoly on the education system and allow parents and communities to set up new schools.

There would be 1,000 new academies with the freedom to run their own affairs under the Tories.

"Any government I lead will not go on excusing failure," he said. "When families fail, school is the way we can give children a second chance."

Revealing that he worried "more than anything else" about finding good schools for his children, he promised parents they would not have to wait years for change. "The election of a Conservative government will bring - and I mean this almost literally - a declaration of war against those parts of the education establishment who still cling to the cruelty of the 'all must win' philosophy and the dangerous practice of dumbing down," he said. He criticised the president of the Spelling Society for using poor grammar and exam chiefs for awarding a pupil marks for writing "f**k off" as an answer in an exam paper.

"As Prime Minister I'd have my own two words for people like that, and yes, one of them does begin with an 'F'. You're fired," he said.

HEATHROW

His decision to oppose the third runway at Heathrow - met with fury by business chiefs - would help rebalance Britain's economy, he said.

"When our economy is overheating in the South-East but still needs more investment in the North, the right thing to do is not go ahead with a third runway at Heathrow but instead build a new high-speed rail network linking Birmingham, Manchester, London, Leeds," he said. "Let's help rebalance Britain's economy."

"BROKEN SOCIETY"

Mr Cameron said his key goal would be to fix Britain's broken society. He added: "The central task I have set myself and this party is to be as radical in social reform as Margaret Thatcher was in economic reform." Parts of Britain were now being blighted by "senseless, barbaric violence on our streets".

In London, 27 young people had been murdered on the streets this year: " Children killing children," he added.

Life expectancy on some estates was lower than in the Gaza Strip and an "angry, harsh culture of incivility" seemed to be everywhere.

"In one generation we seem to have abandoned the habits of all human history... that in a civilised society, adults have a proper role, a responsibility, to uphold rules and order in the public realm, not just for their own children but for other people's too," he said.

Tougher punishment, longer sentences and more prison places were, to a degree, part of the solution, to maintain a clear barrier between right and wrong.

But echoing Tony Blair, he stressed that dealing with the "long-term causes" of anti-social and criminal behaviour, such as poor education, families splitting up and drug addiction, was vital.

Marriage would be backed in the tax system.