Cameron is 'a man with a plan'

But the Conservative leader admitted he had no "miracle cure" to the challenges facing the country and told delegates at the party's annual conference in Birmingham that a Cameron administration's first priority would be to rein in Government borrowing and spending, not to cut taxes.

Tory victory in the upcoming election would not mean an "overnight transformation" for Britain. The Conservatives would inherit "a huge deficit and an economy in a mess" and would need to do "difficult and unpopular things for the long term good of the country", he said, adding: "I know that. I'm ready for that."

In his crucial keynote speech on the final day of a conference which has been overshadowed by turmoil in the banking sector, Mr Cameron insisted that Britain needs "judgment and character", not experience, from its leader in difficult economic times.

In a direct challenge to Gordon Brown's claim that in the current crisis it is "no time for a novice", Mr Cameron said that Britain needs "a change in direction".

"The risk is not in making a change," he said. "The risk is sticking with what you've got and expecting a different result...

"Experience means you are implicated in the old system that's failed. You can't admit that change is needed, because that would mean admitting you've got it wrong."

Although the country is going through "difficult times", Mr Cameron said he was "optimistic" that Britain will come through to "better times ahead".

Three years after his election as Tory leader, the party was now "united in spirit and united in purpose", said Mr Cameron.

And he added: "We know that our task is to take people with us. Rebuilding our battered economy. Renewing our bureaucratised NHS. Repairing our broken society. That is our plan for change. But in these difficult times we promise no new dawns, no overnight transformations. I'm a man with a plan, not a miracle cure."