A 96-year-old Tory activist who founded a stunning North Yorkshire school was hailed as a hero by the prime minister, during his conference speech.

Harry Beckhough - who joined the party in 1929, yet campaigned on a Wiltshire 'battlebus' for the May general election - was present in the Birmingham audience to hear David Cameron's tribute.

The pensioner was given a standing ovation, when Mr Cameron said: "Harry, without people like you we wouldn't be here - and our party wouldn't be in government. So thank you for everything you've done."

Mr Beckhough has lived a colourful life, working as a code breaker during the Second World War, making his fortune by setting up a clothing firm and running Cologne and Bonn universities.

As a schoolboy he came "very close" to being expelled from Fairfield Grammar School in Bristol for writing saucy poems about the Latin mistress.

In 1959, Mr Beckhough started Cundall Manor School, which still sits on a 50-acre site in the Vale of York, between Ripon and Thirsk, close to the A1.

The school bears a plaque to its founder, describing itself as a "thriving co-educational school, which caters for children between the ages of two-and-a-half and 16 years of age".

Interviewed after the speech, Mr Beckhough revealed he had been "devastated" when the general election returned a coalition government.

However, he praised Mr Cameron's "confidence and ability", adding: "I thought it was the most wonderful speech I have heard from a prime minister for at least 30 years.

"It doesn't take much to beat the last few Conservative leaders since Maggie Thatcher. It's been a dead loss. This one shows promise for the future."

However, asked what he thought of the prime minister's vision of a 'Big Society', the 96-year-old replied: "Not much."