NO COMPLACENCY WARNING TO TORIES

At the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Mrs Spelman set out a five point plan to win the next general election.

She stressed the need to stick to the centre ground and stay united in the face of Labour "infighting and introspection".

As the conference got under way, Mrs Spelman insisted: "We've got the ideas to ease the pain of the downturn and improve the economy for the long-term."

Hailing the last 12 months as a great year for the Conservatives, she said: "They said we couldn't break a 40% share of the national vote - and we have.

"They said we couldn't win London - and we have. They said we couldn't make gains in the north and we have. Together we are coming back. But we still have a long way to go. It may be sometime before Brown finds the bottle to call an election."

Mrs Spelman told party supporters the first step must be "absolutely no complacency" because this was the "enemy of action".

Activists must never kid themselves that the election was "in the bag".

Secondly, the party must stick to the centre ground as Labour had "lurched to the left and forgotten what people really care about".

The third step to success, she said, was staying united. "Last week's Labour conference was a feast of in-fighting and introspection. They are more concerned with their own share price than the fortunes of our economy. We are the strong, united, positive alternative to Labour and we've got to stay that way."