Ancram: We are on the road to victory

The Tories were put on an election footing yesterday by the party chairman, Michael Ancram, who said the party was "on the road to victory".

The Tories were put on an election footing yesterday by the party chairman, Michael Ancram, who said the party was "on the road to victory".

In a speech which drew cheers and a standing ovation from the conference hall, Mr Ancram said that his party was a "genuine Government in waiting" and that Labour was in "disarray, their cover blown, their image shattered and their hollowness exposed".

Mr Ancram challenged Tony Blair to call an immediate general election and said: "We are ready to let the people decide. Are you, Mr Blair?"

He paid tribute to John Major, who is attending the conference with his wife Norma, and the strong economic legacy he had left the current government.

But Mr Ancram said Labour had "squandered" the Conservatives' legacy and "blown" massive public goodwill. "They have devalued the integrity of politics by spin and lies and distortions until nobody believes the words any more," he said.

He said that the fuel crisis last week had demonstrated to Labour that it could lose.

"This is the conference which I believe with all my heart can set us on the road to victory at the general election," Mr Ancram said.