David Cameron

The Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP
File:David cameron photo.JPG
Leader of the Opposition
In office December 6, 2005 – present
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Constituency	Witney
Majority	14,156 (26.3%)
Personal details
Born	9 October, 1966 Oxfordshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Samantha Sheffield
Children	Ivan, Nancy and Arthur
Website	www.davidcameronmp.com

David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October, 1966) is a British politician, Leader of the Conservative Party, and Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. He has been Member of Parliament for the Oxfordshire constituency of Witney since 2001.

Early life and early career

Cameron was brought up near Wantage in Oxfordshire, England, the son of stockbroker Ian Donald Cameron and Mary Fleur Mount, the second daughter of Sir William Malcolm Mount, 2nd Baronet. His father is of distant Scottish descent and is a descendant of King William IV by his mistress Dorothea Jordan. He was educated at Eton College, an English public school,

During his gap year between school and university he visited the Soviet Union where he was interviewed in what was possibly an effort by the KGB to recruit him.

Following his gap year he studied at Oxford, where he read for a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Brasenose College. His tutor at Oxford, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, described him as "one of the ablest" students he has taught, whose political views were "moderate and sensible conservative".

While at Oxford, he was a member of the student dining society the Bullingdon Club, A society that has a reputation for drunken and destructive binges. He also belonged to the Octagon Club, another dining society.

Having graduated in 1988 with a first class honours degree, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department between 1988 and 1992. He spent three days a week during that time in Downing Street on the Prime Minister's Questions briefing team.

Following the 1992 Conservative election victory he became a Special Advisor to the Conservative government, first at the Treasury (working for Norman Lamont at the time of Black Wednesday) and then the Home Office, where he worked for Michael Howard.

Between 1994 and 2001, Cameron was the Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications, and until August 2005 he was a non-executive director of Urbium PLC, operator of the Tiger Tiger bar chain.

Family

Cameron married Samantha Sheffield on 1 June, 1996; they have three children. Their first child Ivan was born with cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy. Regarding the news of his son's disabilities, Cameron is quoted as saying: "The news hits you like a freight train... You are depressed for a while because you are grieving for the difference between your hopes and the reality. But then you get over that because he’s wonderful." The Camerons also have a daughter, Nancy (born 2003), and a son, Arthur Elwen (born 2006). When Cameron took paternity leave when his son was born the story was covered widely including on the BBC 6 O'clock News. Cameron has been criticised for being frequently photographed in the newspapers with Ivan for publicity purposes.

Parliamentary career

He was an unsuccessful candidate for Stafford in 1997, in a seat vacated by Bill Cash following a boundary review. He was elected for Witney in 2001, succeeding Shaun Woodward.

After his election to Parliament, he served as a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. In June 2003, he was appointed as a shadow minister in the Privy Council Office. He also became a deputy chairman of the Conservative Party when Michael Howard took over the leadership in November of that year. He was appointed to the opposition frontbench local government spokesman in 2004 before being promoted into the shadow cabinet that June as head of policy co-ordination. Just three months later he became shadow education secretary in the post-election reshuffle.

The 2005 party leadership election

Following the Labour victory in the May 2005 General Election, Michael Howard announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and set a lengthy timetable for the leadership election, as part of a plan (subsequently rejected) to reform the leadership election procedure.

Cameron formally announced that he would be a candidate for the vacancy on 29 September, 2005. He gained support from many colleagues including Boris Johnson, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, then Shadow Defence Secretary and deputy leader of the party Michael Ancram, Oliver Letwin and former party leader William Hague.

Despite this, prior to the 2005 Conservative Party Conference his campaign had not yet gained significant support. However his speech, delivered without notes, proved a significant turning point. In the speech he vowed to make people, "feel good about being Conservatives again" and said he wanted, "to switch on a whole new generation."

In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on 18 October, 2005, Cameron came second, with 56 votes, which was slightly more than expected; David Davis had fewer than predicted at 62 votes. Liam Fox came third with 42 votes and Ken Clarke was eliminated with 38 votes. In the second ballot on 20 October 2005, Cameron came first with 90 votes; David Davis was second, receiving 57, and Liam Fox was eliminated with 51 votes. All 198 Conservative MPs voted in both ballots.

The next stage of the election process, between Davis and Cameron only, was a vote open to the entire Conservative party membership. Cameron was elected with more than twice as many votes as Davis and more than half of all ballots issued; Cameron won 134,446 votes on a 78% turnout, beating Davis's 64,398 votes.

His election as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition, was announced on 6 December, 2005.

At the time of his election as leader, Cameron had a little over four years experience as a Member of Parliament, making him perhaps the most inexperienced parliamentarian to take the leadership of a major British political party since William Pitt the Younger, although he was active in politics before becoming an MP. As is customary for an Opposition leader who is not already a member (for example Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair and Iain Duncan Smith), upon election Cameron has become a member of the Privy Council, being formally approved to join on 14 December, 2005, and sworn of the Council on 8 March, 2006. Cameron is not the youngest post-war leader of the Conservative Party however; this record belongs to William Hague, elected at the age of 36.

Allegations of prior drug use

During the leadership election allegations were made that Cameron had used cannabis and cocaine recreationally before becoming an MP. Pressed on this point during the BBC programme Question Time, Cameron said "I'm allowed to have had a private life before politics in which we make mistakes and we do things that we should not and we are all human and we err and stray." Hours before the second ballot of MPs on 20 October 2005, he stated in an interview with Channel 4 that he had not taken Class A drugs since being elected to Parliament in 2001.

Cameron's politics

Values and philosophy

Cameron describes himself as a "modern compassionate conservative" and has spoken of a need for a new style of politics, saying that he was "fed up with the Punch and Judy politics of Westminster". He has stated that he is "certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite." He has also claimed to be a "liberal Conservative", and "not a deeply ideological person." Cameron has stated that he does not intend to oppose the government as a matter of course, and will offer his support in areas of agreement. He has urged politicians to concentrate more on improving people's happiness and "general well-being", instead of focusing solely on wealth and money. There have been rumours that he described himself to journalists at a dinner during the leadership contest as the "heir to Blair."

He and others in the "Notting Hill set" have sought to focus on issues such as the environment, work-life balance and international development -- issues not seen as priorities for the post-Thatcher Conservative party. In a speech to the Conservative annual conference in October 2006, he identified the concept of "social responsibility" as the essence of his political philosophy. Recently some political commentators have suggested that his style is influenced by the Swedish Moderate Party leader, Fredrik Reinfeldt, who advocates moving to the centre and supporting traditionally centre-left issues.

Political views and policies

Economy

Cameron has said that it is "essential to reduce taxes on employment and wealth creation in order to enhance our economy's competitiveness. But I don't think it's sensible today to write a Conservative budget for 2009 or 2010, with specific pledges on tax reduction." He has stated that he hoped to cut taxes and raise public spending, "as the economy grows". He has referred to this approach as "sharing the proceeds of growth".

Social policy

In a July 2005 speech to the Centre for Social Justice (before becoming party leader) he stated, "the biggest challenge our country faces is not economic decline, but social decline". Cameron has also said, "there is such a thing as society, it's just not the same thing as the state." (a reference to Margaret Thatcher's remark that "There is no such thing as society, there are individual men and women..."). In order to rebuild the "broken society", he said he wanted "to set free the voluntary sector and social enterprises to deal with the linked problems that blight so many of our communities: drug abuse, family breakdown, poor public space, chaotic home environments, high crime." Upon becoming leader Cameron set up a number of committees, such as the Social Justice Policy Group chaired by Iain Duncan Smith, to generate policy ideas on these issues.

Health

Cameron has endorsed the National Health Service, saying it is "vitally important to every family in this country" and "one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century." He has stated his political priorities can be explained in three letters: NHS. Upon becoming party leader, he confirmed that the "patients passport" policy from the 2005 manifesto (subsidising patients who sought private treatment other than the NHS) had been dropped and specifically ruled out converting the NHS to an insurance-based system.

Cameron has pledged to develop policies to make the NHS a "more efficient, more effective and more patient-centred service." He wishes to grant the NHS much greater independence from the Department of Health in order to prevent it being used as a "political football" and to create "greater professional responsibility". He has stated the Conservative party will propose an NHS Independence Bill to this effect in January, and has publicly asked the Labour leadership to support the bill, after he supported Blair's education reforms.

Education

David Cameron endorses Tony Blair's creation of city academies, which are unpopular with many of Blair's own backbenchers, as a way of improving standards in deprived areas. He has called on the Blair government to go "further and faster" with the policy, and says that academies should be given even more freedom from central control.

With regards to Higher Education, Cameron has reversed the Conservative policy regarding tuition fees from the 2005 election manifesto. A future Conservative government under Cameron would not reverse the fees introduced by the current Labour government.

Environment

Cameron has regularly stressed his green credentials since becoming leader, describing himself as "passionate about our environment." He has argued that "there is a price...for tackling climate change" but it is a "social responsibility to the next generation". He has stated he is committed to achieving the 2010 emissions limit and has announced he would change the current energy tax to a carbon tax in order to counter global warming. It has been widely publicised that Cameron sometimes cycles to work. Cameron has also urged people to see An Inconvenient Truth by former US Vice-President Al Gore.

Social issues

Regarding civil partnerships, Cameron has stated that marriage means something "whether you're a man and a woman, a woman and a woman or a man and another man." In a free vote in 2004 he supported the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which gave legal recognition to same-sex couples..

Cameron has stated that the government needs to change social attitudes towards disability by setting an example for the private sector. Under a Conservative government the state would prioritise increasing the number of disabled people employed at Whitehall for this effect. Disabled charity Scope have been called in by Cameron to advise on employment policy. He has claimed it is "morally wrong and economically stupid" for five million on incapacity benefit who "could work" to be "left on the scrap-heap." The Labour Party has disputed the figures.

Drugs, alcohol and tobacco

Cameron is in favour of drug law review, and its reform. Cameron voted for recommendation 24 of the Home Affairs Select Committee report: 'The Government's Drugs Policy: Is It Working?', (published on 9 May, 2002), which recommended that "the Government initiates a discussion within the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of alternative ways — including the possibility of legalisation and regulation — to tackle the global drugs dilemma". He has said that drugs policy must be based on evidence and acknowledges that the evidence concerning cannabis has shifted since 2002.

Cameron is in favour of allowing separate spaces for cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants, and would overturn Labour's complete ban on smoking indoors.

Immigration, asylum and integration

On economic immigration, Cameron has said "we think immigration is very good for Britain; we think that there are clear benefits in a modern economy from having both emigration and immigration, but that net immigration has to have a very careful regard to good community relations and the fair provision of public services."

His stated views on asylum have contrasted with his predecessors, particularly Michael Howard, who proposed an annual quota on the total number of asylum seekers entering Britain. Cameron has claimed "I'm passionately committed to giving people who are being tortured and persecuted asylum, and that means not just letting them in, but taking them to our hearts, and feeding and clothing and schooling them".

Cameron has stated that contact between different communities is essential for social integration and as such, the government should ensure that new immigrants learn to speak English.

Foreign policy

Cameron has stated that he believes in "spreading freedom and democracy, and supporting humanitarian intervention" in cases such as the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. However, he claims to not be a neo-conservative because, as a Conservative, "I recognise the complexities of human nature, and will always be sceptical of grand schemes to remake the world." He supports multilateralism stating "a country may act alone - but it cannot always succeed alone." He believes multilateralism can take the form of acting through "NATO, the UN, the G8, the EU and other institutions", or through international alliances.. Cameron has also argued that "If the West is to help other countries, we must do so from a position of genuine moral authority" and "we must strive above all for legitimacy in what we do."

Cameron has supported the alliance with the United States as highly important. He has praised its role in the Second World War and the Cold War, about which he has said "Unlike some, I never had any doubts about whose side I was on". This was interpreted as a knock at sections of the Labour Party, of which some members had expressed support for the former Soviet Union. He has also claimed "we must be steadfast not slavish in how we approach the special relationship" and argued that "questioning the approach of the US administration, trying to learn the lessons of the past five years, does not make you "anti-American." Cameron also supports Israel and has described the state as being "a lone democracy in a region that currently boasts no others." He is a member of and has spoken for the Conservative Friends of Israel group.. However he criticised the country's 2006 invasion of Lebanon, describing the force used as "disproportionate."

Before becoming leader, he voted in favour of the Iraq war along with the majority of his party. This stance was also confirmed during an interview on the British TV show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In defence of the Iraq situation, he stated, "You've got to do what you think is right even if it's unpopular, that's the only thing you can do". Nevertheless, he supported a motion brought by anti-war parties the SNP and Plaid Cymru on 31 October 2006, calling for an inquiry into the government's conduct of the Iraq war. This was after the government informed the Conservatives that an inquiry would not be accepted in 2007, the initial policy call of the party. The motion was defeated by a margin 25 votes, 273 MPs voting in favour and 298 against. He was severely criticised for this in scathing editorials in The Sun and The Times newspapers. He was also criticised by some Conservative MPs who claimed it was irresponsible to support an enquiry while British troops were still involved.

Cameron supports the War on Terror. He has praised as its successes the removal of "two of the world's most repressive regimes", Libya's abandonment of nuclear weapons procurement, and Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon. He has argued "it must be a battle of hearts and minds, as well as force" and that "the threat cannot be negotiated away or appeased - it has to be confronted and overcome". Cameron has accused Iran of encouraging the insurgency in Iraq and "the murder of British troops", and has criticised the regime for supporting the terrorist network Hezbollah.

European Union

Cameron is not in favour of unilaterally withdrawing from the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy, as some on the Conservative Right have proposed.

Constitutional issues

Cameron is a Unionist although he supports devolution, saying that the Conservatives, "fought against the idea of a Scottish Parliament long after it became clear that it was the settled will of the people." He has also defended the Barnett formula as "Other areas within the UK are subsidised more than Scotland is." He also believes "unionists have to develop better arguments against independence", and that "the case for the Union isn't just economic." Cameron has stated that he wants to address anti-Scottishness in England, "Scotland has certainly not been an occupied or oppressed country these past three hundred years but I recognise that it has not all been a triumphal procession either", and that, "the ignorance of English people about Scots and Scotland", has sometimes meant that Scotland does not get the respect it deserves.

On the West Lothian question, he has criticised the ability of Scottish MPs to vote on English matters, "We need to make devolution work... one part of devolution that doesn't work is that Scottish MPs can vote on matters that don't affect their own constituents", and has asked the party's Commission on Democracy, led by Kenneth Clarke, to look at possible solutions.

Cameron has announced that he would scrap the Human Rights Act, introduced by the Labour government in 2000. Instead, it would be replaced with a Bill of Rights, based on "British needs and traditions". However, he has said that the country would remain within the European Court of Human Rights, on which the Human Rights Act is based.

He has also called for investigations into ministerial misconduct to be a "genuinely independent mechanism" after cabinet minister Tessa Jowell was part of a fraud scandal. Additionally, in order to "clean up", he says ministers should not be allowed to set their expenses or salaries. Cameron has also called for a reduction in the number of Members of Parliaments in the House of Commons.

Fox hunting

Cameron is in favour of overturning the ban on fox-hunting and has stated that a Conservative government under his leadership would give Parliament time for a free vote on the issue. He himself has been fox-hunting on several occasions.

Actions and initiatives

Policy review

On his first day as leader Cameron announced the launch of six 18-month policy reviews to develop new ideas in the specified areas. These included the Quality of Life Challenge, under the chairmanship of John Gummer, covering a series of issues including climate change, urban landscape, traffic jams, and affordable housing, the Global Poverty Challenge and the Public Service Challenge.

Front bench appointments

His Shadow Cabinet appointments include MPs associated with the various wings of the party. Former leader William Hague was appointed to the Foreign Affairs brief and David Davis was retained as Shadow Home Secretary. Hague stood in for Cameron during the latter's paternity leave in February 2006, assisted by Davis.

Budget response

Cameron holds the record for the shortest Budget response in the House of Commons in recent times, at eight minutes and thirty seconds.

Attacks on Gordon Brown

Cameron has criticised Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown for being "an analogue politician in a digital age" and repeatedly refers to him as "the roadblock to reform". Cameron has also said John Prescott "clearly looks a fool" in light of allegations of ministerial misconduct.

Criticism of UKIP

Cameron has accused the United Kingdom Independence Party of being "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly." UKIP leader Nigel Farage has demanded an apology for the remarks, and Conservative MP Bob Spink has also criticised the remarks as has the Conservative supporting newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.

Opposition to the EPP

Immediately after his election as leader, he restated his pledge to withdraw the party's MEPs from the cooperation with the European People's Party (EPP) within the European Parliament, viewing the EPP as excessively federalist. Previously the British Conservative Party had been part of the anti-federalist European Democrats as part of an ED-EPP coalition, but Cameron plans for the ED to break away in order to form a new grouping. Cameron aims to set up one more focused on the Conservative Party's views, a move that has been resisted by some Conservative MEPs. After much speculation, he announced in July 2006 that Conservative MEPs would indeed withdraw from the EPP, but not until 2009. The stated reason for the delay was that the Conservatives' proposed future alliance partners, the Czech Civic Democratic Party, needed time to form a new domestic coalition in order to form a "eurorealist" grouping in the European Parliament.

Standing in opinion polls

During the first month of Cameron's leadership, the Conservatives' standing in opinion polls rose, with several pollsters putting the Conservative party ahead of the ruling Labour party by margins of 1 to 9 points. In early Spring 2006 the Conservative and Labour parties drew even, but after the May 2006 local elections various polls once again generally show Conservative leads.

Criticism

Presentation and policies

Some of Cameron's critics are unhappy with the Conservative Party's new emphasis and its presentation. They dislike his use of language and emphasis on style as much as substance, seeing it as the stance of an anti-politician. New Statesman has unfavourably likened his "new style of politics" to Tony Blair's early leadership years. Cameron has been accused of playing excessive attention to image. ITV News broadcast footage from the 2006 Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth which showed Cameron wearing four different sets of clothes within the space of a few hours, On the right, Peter Hitchens has written that, "Mr Cameron has abandoned the last significant difference between his party and the established left", by prioritising publicly-funded government services. Norman Tebbit has likened Cameron to Pol Pot, "intent on purging even the memory of Thatcherism before building a New Modern Compassionate Green Globally Aware Party".

Allegations of elitism

The Guardian has accused Cameron of relying on, "the most prestigious of old-boy networks in his attempt to return the Tories to power", pointing out that three members of his shadow cabinet and 15 members of his front bench team are "Old Etonians". Similarly, The Sunday Times has commented that "David Cameron has more Etonians around him than any leader since Macmillan" and asked whether he can "represent Britain from such a narrow base." Cabinet minister Hazel Blears has said of Cameron "You have to wonder about a man who surrounds himself with so many people who went to the same school. I’m pretty sure I don’t want 21st-century Britain run by people who went to just one school". In response to Blear's commnets, ConservativeHome accused her of reviving the language of class war. but UKIP-affiliated website UKIPHome contended that her criticism was "balanced and fair", and represented "non-toffs wondering why the Cameron reality again is so far from the media rhetoric".

Candidate selection

Cameron's "A-List" of prospective Parliamentary Candidates has come under sustained attack from many members of his party. Among other criticism, it has been noted that of declared members of the A List, there are more people from Kensington and Chelsea than from Yorkshire and Lancashire combined.

Satire and trivia

• Cameron's relatively young age and inexperience before becoming leader have invited satirical comparison with Blair. Private Eye soon published a picture of both leaders on their front cover, with the caption "World's first face transplant a success."

• Cameron is reported to be known to friends and family as 'Dave' rather than David, although he invariably uses 'David' in public. However, critics of Cameron often refer to him as "Call me Dave" in an attempt to imply false populism. The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein has opposed those who attempt to belittle Cameron by calling him 'Dave'.

• Cameron was featured in the first, second and final episodes of BBC Two's satirical program Time Trumpet. In the earlier episodes the editors showed clips of Blair and Cameron singing David Bowie's "Changes", and in the final episode of the series (broadcast form the "future") it 'recollected' how Cameron became Prime Minister, but for only for twenty days, before being forced to call another general election and losing to the British National Party (BNP).

• On 2 February 2006 he was voted into 92nd place in a poll of New Woman magazine readers to determine the 100 sexiest men in the world. On 10 November 2006 it was also reported that Cameron's, "wide facial shape, large eyes and soft features", gives him the ideal natural physical appearance to be a comedian and to make people laugh.

• Cameron's recreations are listed in Who's Who as tennis, bridge and cooking.

• On 1 April 2006, the Guardian newspaper reported that Coldplay's Chris Martin was backing Cameron and had written a new "theme song" for the party entitled Talk to David. This was later revealed to be an April Fool's joke.

• Cameron was characterised as "Dave the Chameleon" in a Labour Party Political Broadcast, in a move that has been widely criticised. Cameron later claimed that the broadcast had become his daughter's "favourite video".

See also

• Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2005
• Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK)
• 54th UK general election
• UK general election, 2005
• UK general election, 2001

External links

• David Cameron MP official site
• Webcameron.org.uk David Cameron's video blog & discussion website
• BBC Profile of his wife, Samantha Cameron
• Conservative Party – David Cameron official biography
• ePolitix.com — David Cameron profile
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: David Cameron MP
• David Cameron's Guardian columns (2001-2005) as Conservative Party diarist
• They Work For You – David Cameron MP
• The Public Whip – David Cameron MP voting record
• Open Directory Project — David Cameron directory category
• Privy Council Appointment of David Cameron MP - 10 Downing Street
• David Cameron's ancestry at thePeerage.com

News and comment

• Nick Cohen, from magazine New Statesman, 8 August 2005, "The birth of Blameron"
• 10 minute Newsnight fly-on-the-wall film of Cameron's leadership campaign. http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4500000/newsid_4504900/bb_rm_4504972.stm
• The Independent – Tory contender calls for more liberal drug laws 7 September 2005
• Cameron calls for enterprise-based approach to development from the Globalisation Institute
• David Cameron on climate change from Friends of the Earth