Tory mayoral hopeful Steve Norris has mounted a scathing attack on Ken Livingstone's record on crime reduction in London.

Addressing delegates in Blackpool, Norris argued that the London mayor did not offer the "political will and leadership from the top" to change crime statistics in the capital.

"The mayor of London is the one person who can actually make a difference," he was set to say.

"The mayor of London controls the £2.7 billion budget of the Metropolitan Police.

"So never ever listen to someone like Livingstone who makes excuses by always saying, 'I don't have the power. I wish I could help but I don't have the power.'

"He will always say that, because that's his only excuse for his failure to deliver.

"Let's be clear. The mayor of London has got the power. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

"He has the budget, the responsibility and the power. All that is needed is the political will and leadership from the top to make it happen."

Norris, who came second in the 2000 ballot, will insist that the Tories can win in next year's mayoral and London assembly elections.

"I have said to London time and time again: if I don't succeed, don't re-elect me," he was expected to say.

"But I know that this time, that while Livingstone promises us fewer pigeons in Trafalgar Square and ignores the fact that Londoners feel less safe now than they did when he was elected, he is selling them short.

"London deserves better than Ken Livingstone. Next year, on 10 June, I believe we can elect a Conservative mayor who is going to make a difference and a Conservative-dominated Greater London Assembly that is going to support the mayor.

"We are going to show people in this country and in our party that we can win in cities.

"And when you win in cities, you can, as we will, win in the country."