The Conservative conference has heard details of plans to devolve power to cities and revive local democracies.

London mayoral contender Boris Johnson called on the party to join him in his bid to unseat Ken Livingstone.

Johnson received a rousing reception from the annual gathering in Blackpool on Sunday, having been confirmed as the party's candidate last week.

The Henley MP told delegates that running the "world's greatest city" was a big job with "real power" and that "our nation's capital deserves more".

While he did not unveil any new policy pledges, he renewed his attack on the mayor's "bendy buses", planning rules and alleged lack of action on street crime.

Johnson claimed that Livingstone and Labour "are scared and they can see all too clearly that we Conservatives are launching a fightback in London that will recapture the capital for common sense government for the first time in a generation".

"And when people ask me are you serious about this I can tell them that I can think of nothing more serious than the security and prosperity of the powerhouse of the British economy and whose booming service industries are the best possible vindication of the revolutions brought in by Conservative governments," he added.

Earlier former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine also addressed the conference, setting out the conclusions of his policy review on reviving Britain's cities.

He called for the roles of council chief executive and leader to be combined in elected mayoralties with four-year terms, including powers over local policing, education and healthcare

"Chief executives of major cities are paid around £150,000 to £200,000 per annum placing then amongst the highest paid in those cities," he said. "But they are not held to account by local people.

"The leader of the council works at least the same hours, faces public and press scrutiny, and is paid a fraction of the chief executive's salary. I believe it's time to combine these two jobs.

"I believe cities should elect leaders held democratically to account every four years.

"The constituency should be the whole city and not a small part of it that is often socially unrepresentative."

And while he argued that there are no "easy or acceptable alternatives" to council tax, he insisted that "there are changes that are possible".

"Authorities could keep additional business rates created through new development," the peer suggested. "They could have access to the capital bond market with no government guarantee.

"Finally, we should build on our City Challenge ideas of the 1990s. We proved that if central government offered to help finance local development plans, then local communities were enthusiastic to respond.

"In every city there are organisations whose interests can coincide. Imaginative leadership can bring them together. Such plans would be rewarded on their merits.

"Yes, some cities would get more. The others would try harder. That is how you drive standards up."

Tory local government spokesman Eric Pickles told the conference that the Conservatives are committed to the abolition of a raft of regional quangos and regulations, scrapping the government's planned council tax revaluation and giving local authorities more freedom from central control on issues such as planning and housing.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg also addressed delegates in Blackpool, who hailed the Tories for "embracing" local devolution of power, while California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared by videolink to praise David Cameron's leadership on climate change.

However, the conference was hit by a row over comments made by shadow community cohesion minister Baroness Warsi in an interview with the Independent on Sunday.

She said that some BNP voters have "very legitimate views" on immigration that "we mustn't just write off," which Labour described as "shocking".

Cameron defended his shadow cabinet colleague, saying she had made clear that the BNP was "completely unacceptable".

"She has spent most of her political life in West Yorkshire fighting the BNP street by street, standing up for the Conservative Party," he told the BBC.