Posted by Laura Snook, senior news editor
4:30pm. Quick confession: I called Cameron's wife 'Sarah' earlier - sincerest apologies. I've righted it now.
4:10pm: A leisurely exit, clasping as many hands as he can on his way out. Samantha looks a bit bemused. He won't answer the press's questions: "You've heard the speech. I'll leave it at that." Me too, for the moment. I'll be back in a couple of hours with the best of the post-speech post-mortem. See you then!
4:06pm: "Come on, come on, let's stick together." Nice touch. On stage, a cuddle and a kiss for his wife, Samantha. William Hague can't clap in time with the music.
4:04pm : 'Character' is another one of his buzzwords. I've lost count of how many times he's said it. He's optimistic about our future - because of us, the people of Britain. Our attitude and confidence, our courage. Cheers, Dave... "Better times will lie ahead." And he's off! Another standing ovation.
4:03pm: Climate threats now. He's proud of how we're confronting it head-on, not because it's fashionable, but because we're committed to change - just like the Tories. Gains at the polls - that had to come up sooner or later. Cheers when he mentions Boris Johnson, London's first Conservative mayor.
4pm: Back to welfare. The "crazy" benefits system encourages a benefit culture. "We will end the something for nothing culture. Stay on benefits, and you'll have to work for them." Money saved will be used to end couple penalties. It's a very different David than last year's. Very stern.
3:55pm: Marriage will be backed by tax breaks - enough to make you tie the knot? More good schools are on the menu. The "dreadful practice of dumbing down" has "got to go." A letter from the president of the Spelling Society says people should be allowed to use whichever spelling they want. "Wrong," declares Cameron, "and that's spelt with a 'w'."
3:50pm: We don't just need tougher sentencing and more prisons, we need to tackle the long-term social causes, too. He's inviting us to go to Wandsworth Prison with him and meet the inmates - young men with absent fathers; middle-aged men who've never had a job. The family is the best welfare system, he says.
3:45pm: This is a big one: patients should have the right to die with dignity. "God, we've got to change that." Clapping again. He wants the NHS to be more transparent, so doctors answer less to Whitehall and more to patients. "We are now the party of the NHS." Has anyone told them? Social reform: there's that word 'change' again - radical change, he's promising. He doesn't believe our society isn't 'broken' - says it has become "angry, harsh".
3:40pm: Britain's 'spendaholic culture' is incurring his wrath. He wants Parliament to reign in MPs' privileges, such as the
John Lewis list. Only responsibility can improve politics and the public's perception of it. "We've had 11 years of superficial tinkering." Labour has ripped out the NHS's soul and replaced it with management targets.
3:35pm: The problem isn't Gordon Brown or any other member of the Labour party, it's the Labour party itself, he says. Human rights culture is producing ridiculous bureaucratic tape. "We have got to end this nonsense." Did he just thump the lectern?
3:33pm: Corporation tax will be cut by 3pm by revising the "nightmare complexities" of business tax. We need a highspeed rail network uniting the main cities, not another terminal at Heathrow, he says. He wants to be judged on the NHS and mending our broken society. The Labour-bashing is well underway. For Labour, there's only the State and the individual. "And I have to say, you cannot run our country like that", he says, slowly and forcefully.
3:28pm: All spending programmes will be reviewed. And he's going to tackle the social issues that cause spending to rise. Again: "It's not experience that will bring that change about." It'll help lower taxes, he says. Are you struggling to pay your mortgage? Food bills? He wants to give some of our money back to us. The real test? Whether the Tories can grit their teeth and get on with it - even when they're challenged. He just made a joke about his wife Samantha, but I missed the punchline - sorry!
3:23pm: Irresponsible bankers are largely responsible for the trouble the economy's in, he says. The City won't like that much. He's blaming Brown, too, for changing banking regulations: "changing the rules, but taking the referee off the pitch." Sound money and low taxes: that's the government's main role. He'll restore the Bank of England's power to limit debt in our economy. They liked that. They'e clapping.
3:20pm: Rebuilding our economy; repairing our society: they all demand change, not just experience. Praise for Thatcher produces thunderous applause. "If we didn't change, we'd have Gordon Brown forever. I'm not going to go on - there are people on balconies up there..." Ho, ho. A change of direction is needed, he says - the government has taken the wrong road.
3:15pm: "Being leader isn't about being popular, it's about being right. This is a country, not a television channel." The claws are out. He's ready to do difficult things in what has become a difficult time.
3:13pm: He believes in the union: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland <applause>. "I don't want to be prime minister of England. I want to be prime minister of the United Kingdom."
3:10pm: "Let the Ghurkas, the brave people who fought for us, come and live with us," he's saying - a reference to a
recent ruling. "The Conservative Party isn't just about freedom, but freedom can all too easily turn into the idea that we all have the right to do whatever we want. That is not Conservative, that's libertarian - and that's not me." It's all about social responsibility, not state control...
3:07pm: The government has breached the military covenant - something several heads of the Armed Forces
have said before. "And that is wrong", bellows Cameron.
3:05pm: "Let's not forget we're a nation at war" - he's thanking the Armed Forces for their role in reducing terrorism.
3:03pm: We need to put aside our political differences to end the financial crisis, he says. Labour will work with the Tories short-term (only short-term?) to protect our economy.
3:01pm: "In this party, everyone... is playing the same tune." But WHICH tune?!
3pm: And here he is, looking relaxed. Standing ovation. Striding onto the stage to the tune of... I have no idea! Good job I didn't have any money on that one.
2:57pm: Did you spot the lectern? He's setting a more austere, authoritative tone than last year, says Daniel Finkelstein, comment editor of The Times...
2:50pm: Microsoft is in the video they're about to screen, apparently!
2:40pm: While we're waiting, any guesses as to what track will accompany his entrance? Gordon Brown's was 'Your love keeps lifting me higher' by Jackie Wilson. 'Flight of the Valkyries', by Wagner, would be good...
2:45pm: Good grief. He won't be striding onto the stage now until 3:52pm. What's he up to?
2:30pm: False alarm - he's going to be fashionably late, the BBC says. We've another few minutes to wait.
2:20pm: Less than ten minutes to go before David Cameron takes the stage at the Conservative conference. I'll be blogging throughout. Refresh your page regularly to get the latest post. I'll be back after flexing my fingers!
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