David Cameron declared that the Conservatives were “ready for government” yesterday, as he rejected Gordon Brown's claim that he was a political novice.

The opposition leader even suggested that his party was prepared “in a way that Labour wasn't in 1997”.

Writing in the party conference edition of House Magazine, Mr Cameron said that while he was not complacent, he had to show the public that the Conservatives were ready for power. He said that the conference in Birmingham, which begins this weekend, would explain “what we want to achieve and how we'll go about it”.

“I don't want to win the next general election for the sake of winning, or to win it on the back of Labour's failure. I want us to win because people have voted positively for the change we will bring — a win that would not just be a transfer of power from the Labour Party to the Conservative Party, but a transfer of power from the state to society.

“The phrase 'Go back to your constituencies and prepare for government' won't be used. We are not arrogant enough to be complacent. This is about making sensible preparations for the possibility that we will soon be in a position to implement our policies in government.”

In an interview with Sky News, Mr Cameron rejected Mr Brown's claim that he was a novice. “Yes, this Prime Minister has got experience: he has got the experience of building up the biggest budget deficit of any industrialised country, he has got the experience of designing the regulatory system that failed to prevent the first run on a bank in Britain in 150 years ... I don't think that is the experience we need right now.”

He also defended his decision to allow the media to take pictures of his children, in reference to Mr Brown's gibe that he would not let his own children become props. He said that the public had a right to look at someone who was asking to become Prime Minister. “My family is the biggest thing in my life,” he said.

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