Conservative leader completes transformation of the 'nasty party'

David Cameron has embarked on a 630-mile circuit of England and Wales to celebrate the Conservatives' best local election results for nearly two decades.

The stops on his whistle-stop helicopter tour – south Wales, the Midlands, the North-west and London – have been carefully chosen. All had been long resistant to the party's charms – and all could prove vital to Mr Cameron's chances of ousting Gordon Brown from Downing Street.

With 44 per cent of the vote, Tory strategists believe they have made a decisive breakthrough in popular support. For much of the past two years they have held a narrow lead over Labour in the polls, but appeared to have stalled at just below 40 per cent. Yesterday's results reflect recent surveys showing the Tories have enjoyed a crucial bounce in support since the autumn.

They warned that the town hall results would not necessarily be repeated in a general election, which is now likely to be at least 18 months away.

Nevertheless the Conservatives can now credibly claim to be on course for a general election victory for the first time since Tony Blair's crushing defeat of John Major 11 years ago. They made steady gains in the West Midlands, the North-west and the South-east, all regions with a high number of Tory target seats at the next election.

The jewel in their crown was Bury, Greater Manchester, where the Conservatives gained three seats to take overall control of the council. They now have 26 seats in Bury to Labour's 16 – down four – with the Liberal Democrats up one on nine. Both its Westminster MPs are Labour.

Bob Bibby, the first Tory leader of the council for 22 years, said: "The way David Cameron has turned the party around has made a huge difference – to be able to knock on doors and be welcomed in, be more approachable, be more human. I think the idea that we were the 'nasty party' was overblown, but there was some resonance to it."

The Tories won control of neighbouring Rossendale, which is also represented at Westminster by two Labour MPs. They gained three extra seats in Bolton – a key Tory target – although they failed to replace Labour as the biggest party on the council.

Their progress was more modest across the Pennines, but the party was delighted to capture North Tyneside from no overall control and to pick up seats in Labour fiefdoms such as Sunderland and Wakefield.

Four more councils in the West Midlands fell into Tory hands. The most stunning gain was Nuneaton and Bedworth, which had been controlled by Labour for 34 years. They also took Redditch, represented in parliament by the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, Solihull and Wyre Forest.

The Conservatives swept into power in Southampton, which has two Labour MPs, after making eight gains and captured the boroughs of Harlow, Basingstoke, Maidstone and Elmbridge in the South-east.

They are also showing signs of revival in Wales, where they took control of the Vale of Glamorgan. They also strengthened their stranglehold in Monmouthshire, where they hold 29 of the 43 council seats, and gained nine in Powys, where they previously had none.

There were some blips, however. They lost their last councillor in Sheffield, their last two in Oxford and still have none in Newcastle upon Tyne and only one in Manchester and Cambridge. But Tory sources said their party machinery was recovering on the back of strong performances in the town hall contests.

Before setting off, Mr Cameron said this was a "big moment" for his party, which now had the chance to demonstrate its readiness to form the next government.

"I think these results are not just a vote against Gordon Brown and his Government," he said. "I think they are a vote of positive confidence in the Conservative Party.

"I want us to really prove to people that we can make the changes they wantto see. That's what I'm going to devote myself and my party to doing over the next few months."

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