Tories will win next election, Hague predicts

London: William Hague predicted the Conservatives will win the next election and put Whitehall mandarins on notice for sweeping changes.

In a display of confidence, Hague, who is Tory deputy leader in all but name, revealed senior civil servants have been told of key decisions that an incoming Conservative administration would expect to take.

As despair spreads among Labour MPs over Gordon Brown's ailing premiership, Hague said: "It is likely that we are going to be able to win the next election ... I put it no more strongly than that."

The former Tory leader spoke out a day after a poll showed that David Cameron could walk into No 10 next year with a landslide Commons majority of 186, seven more than Tony Blair in 1997.

In an interview in The Times, Hague added: "However much opinion polls go up and down, there is a mood of 'this is long enough of a Labour government'."

Hague, who as Conservative leader was defeated in the 2001 general election, also told of the eagerness among Tories to regain power but also stressed they realised the daunting scale of the task ahead.

"We have the right mixture of excitement - when you have lost three elections it is quite exciting," he said. "But there is also a sober atmosphere, because if and when we win we will have the worst financial inheritance of any government in peacetime."