The Conservative party's on-the-ground campaigning operation is stronger than at any time since Margaret Thatcher was propelled to power in 1979, Eric Pickles, the shadow local government secretary, has said.

On the eve of the Tories' annual conference, Mr Pickles hailed a "golden age" for the electoral machine. The constituency-level networks of activists, on which every party relies to get the vote out, appeared at least the equal of the late 1970s.