The Liberal Democrats can attract voters from across the political divide, one of the party's senior strategists has claimed.

Mark Oaten claimed the party will make big electoral gains by tapping into the broad liberal views held by the public.

Oaten, who is chairman of the Parliamentary party, said the Liberal Democrats are in their strongest position for a generation.

"There's an opportunity that I haven't seen for a long time. The Guardian poll putting us on 28 points has added to the momentum," he told ePolitix.com.

He argued that the party is "ahead of the political curve" because the public are no longer wedded to the ideology of right and left.

"It's quite clear that the party's name explains where we are on the political spectrum. The best label is the liberal label," he said.

"People don't rate themselves as being left or right but they do take positions on issues like Iraq, crime, gay rights and public services. They are not as rigid about their beliefs as they have been in the past."

"The values that a lot of people share is liberal with a small 'l' in their daily lives."

The Winchester MP recognised that the party would have a difficult job in getting the concept across through the media.

"It's lazy to speak in terms of left or right - it's now Westminster language. But I do accept that in terms of short hand things it's very difficult to explain," he said.

"A classic example is Iraq. Was it left wing to oppose the war when a million people marched? Some of them had been on the countryside march.

"And people like Kenneth Clarke and Douglas Hurd opposed the war. You have to look a bit deeper."

He rejected the claim by Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith that a political party cannot appeal to voters in both Newbury and Brent East.

"This was the most extraordinary statement from a Conservative leader who is rejecting his inheritance of one nation Conservatives," he said.

"The whole point was about representing areas as diverse as Brent East and Newbury."

The party's time at Brighton has shown renewed support from the grassroots activists, Oaten claimed.

"It's been extremely positive. The delegates are really excited by the Brent result and they're a little bit exhausted," he said.

And doubts over Charles Kennedy's leadership have also been silenced, his colleague claimed.

"The party is very much at ease with Charles. He's the most popular leader in the country who is representing the new style of doing politics," Oaten said.

"He's a bit less stuffy and likes to be a bit straight forward.

"And he's very, very popular with young people. And he's had a very good two weeks."