John Swinney has warned SNP members against complacency in the forthcoming election and told delegates at the party's spring conference the Scottish Government had a record to be proud of.

The deputy First Minister spoke as 3000 members of the party gathered in Glasgow for its largest ever pre-election conference.

He said David Cameron's fear the SNP will win a third Holyrood election victory is "reason enough" for Scots to vote for the party in May.

Mr Swinney insisted that the Prime Minister and his Conservatives "don't like having a government in Scotland which stands up to them".

He asked: "Can anybody seriously imagine the other party leaders in Scotland so effectively standing up for Scotland?"

Mr Swinney told the conference: "A couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister came up to Scotland and talked about how much he feared an SNP victory in May.

"It seems that the Tories don't like having a government in Scotland which stands up to them.

"Now I think that's good reason enough for us to get out there and campaign for a strong SNP victory."

The SNP has been in power in Edinburgh since 2007, with the party first operating as a minority administration before winning a Holyrood majority in May 2011.

Opinion polls show the party on course to win a second majority term in the Scottish Parliament, with Mr Swinney saying the party would "never become what we have so recently overcome - the failed and complacent Labour Party".