Britain's first black PM will be a Tory says Cameron

Britain's first black or Asian prime minister will be a Conservative, David Cameron has predicted.

As he prepares to launch a pitch for support from members of ethnic minorities, the prime minister will set out what he terms a "2020 vision" for black, Asian and minority communities.

He will promise 20% more jobs, students and apprenticeships - as well as 20% of selections in Westminster seats where Tory MPs are standing down - for ethnic minorities by the end of the decade.

The initiative came as former Tory treasurer-turned-pollster Lord Ashcroft accused the PM of harming the party's hopes of General Election victory by focusing its campaign on attacking Ed Miliband rather than setting out a positive vision for the future.

Wavering voters were switching to Labour after seeing how, rather than crumbling under Tory fire, Mr Miliband was showing "a good deal of resilience in the face of some rather unseemly attacks", Lord Ashcroft wrote in The Independent.

He added: "Rather than relying on the identity of their leader and the risks of change, the Tories over the last five years ought to have laid the foundations for a campaign in which they could talk confidently about their plans for public services, and to describe a Conservative vision of opportunity and prosperity for all."

A YouGov poll for The Sun found Labour maintaining a two-point lead on 35% to the Conservatives' 33%, with Ukip on 13%, Liberal Democrats on 8% and Greens on 6%.

Ethnic minority voters have long disproportionately backed Labour in British elections, with a report for the Runnymede Trust finding that 68% supported the party in 2010, against just 16% for Conservatives. Labour support was highest among voters of African, Caribbean and Bangladeshi background, but even voters of Indian heritage - who were most enthusiastic for the Tories - Labour was still preferred by 61% to 24%.

Speaking to an ethnic minority audience, Mr Cameron will say that the Conservatives want Britain to be a country of opportunity for all and to ensure that the benefits of economic recovery are spread across all communities.

"We're the party of the first female prime minister. The party of the first Jewish prime minister. And I know that, one day, we're going to be the party of the first black or Asian prime minister," he is expected to say.

"I want this to be an opportunity country, where no matter who you are or where you're from; whether you're black, white, Asian or mixed race; whether you're from the inner city or rural heartlands; you can make the most of your talents."