A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days: The Spectacular Rise Of David Cameron

Sections

Help

Frequently Asked Questions

The Spectacular Rise Of David Cameron

Posted by Pejman Yousefzadeh on Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 12:01:35 PM EST

The Conservatives in Britain have a new leader. And his rhetoric sounds familiar:

David Cameron has been elected as the new Conservative leader by a margin of more than two to one over David Davis.
The 39-year-old beat rival Mr Davis by 134,446 votes to 64,398 in a postal ballot of Tory members across the UK.
The Old Etonian, an MP for only four years, said: "I want us to give our country a modern compassionate Conservatism."

I suspect that Cameron--with his telegenic nature and 21st century communications skills will be an impressive and formidable political opponent for Tony Blair at Question Time and for Gordon Brown in the next general election. The speculation in Britain is that Blair will not last much longer as Prime Minister and that Brown will soon take over.

My understanding is that Cameron is surrounded by pro-America advisors--a sharp contrast to many of the anti-American Tories that advised the anti-American Tory Michael Howard. This is especially important, given that the imminent departure of Blair and the rise of Brown could very well mean that more anti-American elements of the Labour Party will be in the ascendant, at least for the short term.

A profile of Cameron can be found here.

(Cross posted on Red State.)

< The Horror | "Stoic Warriors" >

The Spectacular Rise Of David Cameron | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)

Filling a Vacuum (none / 0) (#1)
by Joseph Britt on Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 01:38:59 PM EST

Heavy drinking, probable drug use, a background in public and media relations and rhetoric lifted from the least-liked American President in Britain since Madison. Swell. Thank God for those "pro-American advisers", eh?

Seriously, how did the Tories ever wind up with Margaret Thatcher as their leader for so long? I thought for a long time that great historic forces were at work, but it's looking a lot more like plain dumb luck by this time.

: Filling a Vacuum (none / 0) (#2)
by Pejman Yousefzadeh on Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 09:30:54 PM EST

The pro-American advisors may or may not have been responsible for the choice of rhetoric, but of course you are as aware as I am of the fact that the British and American political parties end up mirroring one another's rhetoric. So this should come as no surprise. Indeed, as the rise of Thatcher was commensurate with the rise of Reagan, it would seem that the historical patterns played themselves out with regard to the direction taken by America and Britain in the 1980's.
"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid." --Friedrich Nietzsche
[ Parent ]

All in all, still an improvement (none / 0) (#3)
by Dave J on Thu Dec 08, 2005 at 01:49:30 AM EST

I was backing David Davis from the start of this drawn-out leadership contest, but Cameron is still progress for the Tories. Michael Howard, after all, had been John Major's Home Secretary: as much good as he did do for the party, he still reminded the public of that very same previous government that Blair STILL manages to get away with blaming for anything wrong with Britain, and which is still thought of, rightly or wrongly, as sleazy and more interested in intra-party personality clashes than in actual policy.

For differing reasons, William Hague and Iain Duncan-Smith were simply the right men in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cameron has brought them both back into the fold, and that's a positive sign, although I would've liked to see Hague as Shadow Chancellor rather than DC's Notting Hill buddy George Osborne. That David Davis will remain Shadow Home Secretary rather than being demoted or sent off to the back benches is equally encouraging, as it will help get most of his supporters on-side with Cameron rather than sniping at him, i.e., it will help remind a lot of Tories that the real opponent they need to be going after is Labour.

I'd also add that I suspect the extended leadership campaign was, itself, very helpful. Sure, there were big egos involved, but mostly, it kept the Tories in the public spotlight and largely in a positive way. I have to think that that may represent more of a break from recent public perceptions of the party than any difference in who ultimately wound up being selected as leader might have done.

Finally, Gordon Brown will make a far easier target than Blair. For all his flaws, some gratitude really needs to go to Michael Howard for the extended campaign: this may be my own natural optimism, but it could well mark the true beginning of the long-awaited Tory resurgence.

The Spectacular Rise Of David Cameron | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)

Search

Login

Make a new account

Donate

A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days