The British Conservative party drew up election battle lines today after years of reverses, pledging lower taxes and smaller government and claiming to have Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair rattled.
Opinion polls make Labour leader Blair a clear favourite at the moment to win a third term in power at elections expected in the first half of next year, but since waging war in Iraq he has seen his public trust ratings plunge.
Tory leader Mr Michael Howard told his party's spring conference in Harrogate that Britain stood at a crossroads over taxes and public spending.
"One road leads to an ever bigger role for the state, higher taxes, higher government spending," he said.
"The other road leads to a country in which people pay less tax and have more control over their lives. A country in which people are big and the state is small."
Analysts say that under Mr Howard, the Conservatives can no longer be totally written off.
Despite pledging to slow growth in public spending, they have promised to maintain investment in key public services.
Public debt has climbed fast as Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr Gordon Brown pumps money into schools and hospitals. Experts say at some point he must either curb spending or raise taxes.
Mr Howard described Mr Brown as a tax and regulation "junkie".
Party officials said the Conservatives would seek to exploit rumours that Mr Blair will hand power to Mr Brown after securing a third election victory - a guarantee, they say, of tax rises.
"Tony Blair will never be able to deliver the changes that our country needs," Mr Howard said. "When push comes to shove he is a Labour prime minister. His party won't let him. The trade unions won't let him. And Gordon Brown won't let him."
The first big electoral test for Mr Howard falls on June 10th, a day of elections for London mayor, MEPs and local councils across Britain.
"It will be a major test of our party's political revival. Victory will show that the Conservatives are ready for government," Mr Jonathan Evans, leader of the party's MEPs, said.