UK oppn stakes election hope on move to centre

Bournemouth (England), Oct 2: The leader of the opposition Conservatives has laid claim to the centre of British politics as the party was fired by new confidence it can oust Tony Blair's Labour Party, in power for nine years.

David Cameron, in his first speech as leader to the Conservatives' annual conference, took aim at the party's right wing yesterday, saying ''fringe'' policies were not the way to end a string of three successive election defeats by Blair.

''Our party's history tells us the ground on which political success is built. It is the centre ground ... Not the ideological wilderness, out on the fringes of debate,'' Cameron, 39, told delegates who gave him a warm reception.

He told the party faithful that the next general election -- expected in 2009 -- would be wide open, but that the party, which dominated 20th century British politics, must prepare the ground carefully.

With the Labour Party rocked by infighting over who will succeed Blair when he steps down within a year, political analysts believe the Conservatives have a chance to win the next election, or at least to deprive Labour of a majority in parliament.

Polls show more Britons prefer Cameron to Finance Minister Gordon Brown, Blair's likely successor.

Since becoming the party's fifth leader in nine years last December, Cameron has sought to turn the Conservatives into a pro-environment, ''family-friendly'' party.

The party chalked up solid gains in local council elections in May and has been ahead of Labour in polls since then, although weekend polls showed that lead has all but evaporated.

NO TAX CUT PLEDGE

Aiming to win back middle-class voters who abandoned the party in 1997, Cameron has ditched right-wing policies adopted by the Conservatives' long-serving prime minister Margaret Thatcher such as cutting taxes.

''I'm going to go into (the next) election saying ... No unfunded up-front tax cuts,'' Cameron told a BBC interviewer on Sunday, making a pledge that could put him at odds with right-wingers in the party.

Cameron said that, if elected, he would keep the ''good things'' that Blair had done since he swept to power in 1997.

The Labour government decision to give the Bank of England freedom to set interest rates had been a good move, Cameron said.

''We'll keep it. In fact we will try and enhance it.'' He said the Conservatives should also keep the minimum wage, introduced by Labour in 1999 over Conservative opposition.

Cameron said he would not bring British troops home from Afghanistan and that British forces had to remain in Iraq while the Iraqi government wanted them there.

Cameron's makeover has alienated some on the right of the party and left many voters confused over what the party stands for.

Opponents accuse Cameron of being heavy on public relations and short on policies.

The Conservatives reject being rushed into announcing policies, saying a review is under way.

In a sign Cameron is forging international links despite charges by political opponents that he would distance Britain from Europe and America, US Republican Senator and likely presidential candidate John McCain heaped praise on the party in a speech to the rally.

And Fredrik Reinfeldt, a centre-right politician who ended 12 years of Social Democrat rule in last month's Swedish election, sent a video message urging the Conservatives to stick with the changes they are making.

REUTERS