All great peoples are conservative.

Republicans rarely criticize Obama for lack of empathy - in part because liberals have traditionally been seen as standing up for the weak and the vulnerable. Conservatives can be just as empathetic. But they believe that in most cases it's not government's role to be the primary dispenser of empathy.

I'm not a knee-jerk conservative. I passionately believe in free markets and less government but not to the point of being a libertarian.

I think that if we get back to some basic fundamental principles we can make sure that we resolve the issues. And I think that that's what the Tea Party was all about. It's getting back to a constitutional conservative government. And that is limited but it's also effective and efficient. I think that that's what we'll be able to do.

Obviously a Conservative government will always leave taxes lower than they have been under Labour. Those things go with the territory of the Conservative Party.

It is the mission of the next Conservative Government to build the Responsible Society.

The conservative movement today is like that tall ship with its proud captain: strong accomplished but veering off course into the dangerous and uncharted waters of big government republicanism.

Conservatives are winning offices and champions of big government are cleaning out their desks right now.

And I can tell you that history will back up what I'm about to say and that is that there is no government run by conservatives Republicans put whoever you want there if you give government the opportunity to spend more money than it has it will do it. It will do it every time.

Somehow liberals have been unable to acquire from life what conservatives seem to be endowed with at birth: namely a healthy skepticism of the powers of government agencies to do good.