David Cameron today insisted he would not offer up "pie in the sky tax cuts" as he closed his first full party conference as Conservative leader with a declaration that the Tories were now "back in the centre ground of British politics".

The Tory leader, barely 10 months into the job, attempted to reposition the party's stance on the health service, telling delegates in Bournemouth that his priority could be summed up in three letters: NHS.

And he promised, after taking the party to its first sustained lead in the polls for more than a decade: "The best is yet to come."

Telling activists the party was "getting ready to serve again", he also warned that "people are not going to jump from Labour straight into our arms".

Specifying his personal priorities as "family, community, society, the NHS, the environment and quality of life", Mr Cameron insisted: "We must not be the party that says the world and our country is going to the dogs - we must be the party that lifts people's sights and raises their hopes."

And he challenged the prime minister to use this autumn's Queen's speech to introduce green legislation and "do something for the environment" in his final months at Number 10.

With the three party conferences over, the focus now returns to Westminster, with Tony Blair's final Queen's speech of government legislation expected in November.

The home secretary, John Reid, has already revealed it will contain several crime, anti-terrorism and immigration measures.

With Tory opposition to ID cards, Mr Reid last week branded Mr Cameron's party as "soft on terrorism".

Mr Cameron opened by brushing off Boris Johnson's gaffes of yesterday, joking: "We are not New Labour - we don't mind when people go off-message. We've had a great week - even Boris managed to get to Tuesday without putting his foot in it."

Referring to Lord Tebbit's calls for a return to more Thatcherite policies, he quipped: "Well, I've got on my bike and I'm looking for work."

The Tory leader, who turns 40 this month, began by addressing criticisms that his leadership lacked substance. "I don't think that announcing policies in a rush amounts to substance," he said.

And lambasting critics who were already demanding tax cuts, he declared: "They're not coming back, and we're not going back."

"We believe sound money and stability always comes first. We will not take risks with the economy."

Mr Cameron focused heavily on "trust in politics", attacking Mr Blair for being presidential and arrogant.

Making an explicit comparison between himself and Mr Blair, he told delegates: "12 years ago there was an energetic young party leader. He stood before his party conference for the first time. He said he'd change his party. He made promises about changing the country.

"Remember him? I do. Look what happened. People voted for him, but he let them down."

The packed audience at Bournemouth cheered loudly when he promised to make decisions in cabinet rather than "on the sofa" in Number 10.

"I want to be prime minister of this country - I don't want to be president," he said.

On the environment, he joked that he liked trees but was not a "tree-hugger", and warned that going green was not "some fashionable, pain-free option".

Urging people to see Al Gore's environmental film, An Inconvenient Truth, he said: "There is a price for progress in tackling climate change."

He reiterated Tory plans for an annual carbon audit, putting yearly limits on emissions, and creating a market in carbon.

As billed in advance, Mr Cameron referred to his own family's experiences of the NHS - calling it "one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century".

He talked of using A&E late at night "desperate with worry", saying his family relied on the NHS "day after day, night after night".

In words that will rarely have been heard at a Tory conference before, he declared: "It is a symbol of collective will, of social solidarity."

Mr Cameron promised the health service "the money it needs", but gained a large round of applause for insisting there would be "no more pointless reorganisations".

The Tory leader declared: "Tony Blair once explained his priority in three words: education, education, education. I can do it in three letters: NHS."

Mr Cameron also pledged that the Tories could not ignore the need for more housing, despite campaigns to stop building plans around London.

He called for more flats for young people, so long as they were built "in harmony with existing architecture and the environment".

He also made an impassioned call for an improved transport infrastructure system in the UK, but did not specify support for a new north-south train line.

As is traditional with a Tory party conference, one of the loudest cheers came in support of UK armed forces fighting abroad, as Mr Cameron recounted his visit to Afghanistan promising to "do more" on housing and schooling for service personnel. He even hinted at income tax relief for troops fighting overseas.

Mr Blair's vow to be "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" had been one of the best things the prime minister had ever said, Mr Cameron told delegates.

But Mr Blair had thrown that approach away at his party conference with a "cheap joke" mocking the Tory leader's "hug a hoodie" speech.

And treading into territory rarely mentioned in a Tory leader speech in the past, he referred to the Cantle report into the race riots in the North of England in 2001, saying he backed faith schools but supported the report's conclusions that they should admit a percentage of other faiths.

Mr Cameron added that new immigrants must learn English in the name of social cohesion.

Attacking the prime minister's close relationship to Washington, Mr Cameron declared he loved America, but "unlike some people" - Mr Blair - he "knew where he stood" during the cold war. Mr Blair was famously a member of CND when he was first elected an MP in 1983.

"Questioning the approach of the US administration does not make you anti-American. If [the PM]'s accusing me of wanting a British prime minister to pursue a British foreign policy, then I plead guilty!" he declared.

Watched by his wife, Samantha, Mr Cameron concluded with a celebration of the role of marriage in society as a sign of commitment, trumpeting the party's acceptance of same-sex civil partnerships.

"Let us as a society and as a culture value and recognise marriage more," he said.