David Cameron today pledged to defend “family, community, country” as he set out his vision for “a responsible society” under the Conservatives.

Promising he had the character, temperament and judgment to lead Britain, he described “how good things could be” if Government was cut back to help “put Britain back on her feet”.

“Recognising that what holds society together is responsibility, and that the good society is a responsible society – that’s what I’m about, that’s what any government I lead will be about,” Mr Cameron told the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

“We all know how bad things are, massive debt, social breakdown, political disenchantment. But what I want to talk about today is how good things could be”, Mr Cameron said.

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Cameron gambled that the voters’ attention will be focused on his character, rather than policies

Francis Elliott

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He spoke of a hard climb ahead, but described his view from the summit. “I see a country where more children grow up with security and love because family life comes first. I see a country where you choose the most important things in life – the school your child goes to and the healthcare you get.

“I see a country where communities govern themselves – organising local services, independent of Whitehall, a great handing back of power to people. I see a country with entrepreneurs everywhere, bringing their ideas to life,” he said.

“I see a country where we are not afraid to walk home alone, because we know that right and wrong has been restored to law and order. I see a country where the poorest children go to the best schools and not the worst, where birth is never a barrier.”

He ended, to a long ovation: “We will get through this together. And when we look back we will say not that the government made it happen, not that the minister made it happen, it was the businesswoman made it happen, the police officer made it happen, the father made it happen, the teacher made it happen. You made it happen.”

At the end of the speech Mr Cameron brought his wife Samantha to join him on stage before walking out through the crowd of delegates.

Earlier, in a highly personal section, Mr Cameron spoke of the death of the couple's son Ivan. “When such a big part of your life suddenly ends, nothing else – nothing outside – matters. It’s like the world has stopped turning and the clocks have stopped ticking,” he said. “And as they slowly start again, weeks later, you ask yourself all over again: do I really want to do this?”

Mr Cameron said he was “not a complicated person” and laid out his core beliefs: “This is my DNA: family, community, country. These are the things I care about. They are what made me. They are what I’m in public service to protect, promote, and defend.”

The speech contained long restatements of a range of Tory policies, but no new announcements, although he made his strongest commitment yet to keep the Sure Start scheme for young children.

But he effectively handed out several cabinet positions, calling William Hague “the man who will be our new British Foreign Secretary”, saying Liam Fox would be a Defence Secretary of the “front rank”, pledging that Chris Grayling would reform the Home Office and Michael Gove would shake up schools. He also said that Iain Duncan Smith would join a Conservative Government to co-ordinate social policy.

Mr Cameron won a standing ovation for an angry attack at Labour attempts to paint the Conservatives as uncaring: “Who made the poorest poorer? Who left youth unemployment higher? Who made inequality greater? No, not the wicked Tories – you Labour, you’re the ones that did this to our society.”

Mr Cameron attacked Labour’s expansion of the state, saying: “Do you know the worst thing about their big government? It’s not the cost, though that’s bad enough. It is the steady erosion of responsibility.

“Our task is to lead Britain in a completely different direction. So no, we are not going to solve our problems with bigger government. We are going to solve our problems with a stronger society. Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger country. All by rebuilding responsibility.”

Mr Cameron said there was no alternative to Tory plans to pay down the national debt, rejecting calls to prolong economic stimulus. “The longer we leave it, the worst it will be for all of us,” he said. “Yes, we have made some tough choices. But in British politics today that is the only responsible thing to do.”

He urged voters to trust him to make the right decisions, whatever events threw at him, saying: “It’s your character, your temperament and your judgement, not your policies and your manifesto, that really make the difference.”

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