David Cameron said that he would “seriously consider” surrendering power over election timing if voted in to No 10.

The Tory leader included the introduction of fixed-term parliaments in a range of Conservative measures to repair trust in politics after the MPs expenses scandal.

He rejected a referendum on electoral reform — an idea mooted by Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, in The Times — saying that proportional representation strengthened political elites.

In a keynote speech to the Open University in Milton Keynes today Mr Cameron sought to wrest back the initiative from Mr Johnson.

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Mr Cameron has gone considerably further today than appeared likely even at this time last week

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Voters’ anger at the expenses scandal exposed their frustration at politicians and bureaucrats who failed to address their needs and denied them the opportunity to help themselves, Mr Cameron said.

“When it comes to the things we ask from politics, government and the State, there is a sense of power and control draining away — having to take what you’re given, with someone else pulling the strings,” Mr Cameron said

“A growing culture of rule-following, box-ticking and central prescription robs people of the chance to use their judgment or to take responsibility for making the right decisions,” he added.

He condemned the “increasingly Orwellian surveillance state — symbolised by the simultaneously ineffective and intrusive ID cards scheme — reminds people that the powers-that-be don’t really trust them”.

By contrast a Conservative government would “reverse our society’s infantilisation by inviting people to look to themselves, their communities and wider society for answers, instead of just the state.”

Outlining existing Conservative policy on devolving power over schools, policing, planning and housing, Mr Cameron said that officials and politicians would be required to undergo a “massive culture change”.

He promised to set the tone if elected to No 10 by ensuring that a Cameron government would seek to strengthen the powers of those holding it to account.

He said that MPs should be more independent with select committee members elected by backbenchers, not appointed by whips. He also suggested a Conservative government would allow MPs much more freedom to amend government legislation.

“We’ll put limits on the number of political advisers, strengthen the Ministerial Code, protect the independence of the Civil Service, and ensure that more decisions are made by the Cabinet as a whole,” Mr Cameron said, pledging to end “sofa government”.

Mr Cameron’s most radical suggestion — that he would seriously consider the introduction of a fixed parliament — included the caveat that the term would only be set if the Conservatives had an overall majority.

The Tory leader also acknowledged that such an arrangement would undermine calls to hold a poll where one party leader was replaced by another.

Nevertheless, he said: “We also need to look seriously at the immense power prime ministers wield through their ability to call an election whenever they want.”

But Mr Cameron rejected the suggestion of referendum on electoral reform be held at the same time as the next election, arguing that scrapping the first-past-the-post voting system would lead to governments formed in “backroom deals”.

“The principle underlying all the political reforms a new Conservative government would make is the progressive principle of redistributing power and control — from the powerful to the powerless,” he said.

“Proportional representation takes power away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the political elites. Instead of voters choosing their government on the basis of the manifestos and leadership put before them in an election campaign party managers would choose a government on the basis of secret backroom deals.”

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