   #copyright

David Cameron

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Political People

   The Rt Hon David Cameron MP
   David Cameron
     __________________________________________________________________

   Leader of the Opposition
   Incumbent
   Assumed office
   December 6, 2005
   Preceded by Michael Howard
   Succeeded by Incumbent
   Constituency Witney
   Majority 14,156 (26.3%)
     __________________________________________________________________

   Born October 9, 1966
   Flag of England 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 the Leader of the
   Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom,
   positions he has occupied since December 2005. He is regarded as a
   successful leader who has helped the party re-establish itself after a
   long period of decline.

   He has been involved in British politics for much of his adult life.
   His first political job was a three-month research post for Tim
   Rathbone MP (his godfather) before he read Philosophy, Politics and
   Economics at Oxford. There Cameron gained a first class honours degree;
   his tutor Professor Vernon Bogdanor said he was "one of the ablest
   students" he has taught.

   After Oxford, Cameron joined the Conservative Research Department and
   became Special Adviser to Norman Lamont (serving during Black
   Wednesday), and then to Michael Howard. He was Director of Corporate
   Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years; company chairman
   Michael Green described him as "board material". Cameron's first
   candidacy for Parliament in 1997 ended in defeat but he was elected in
   2001 as Member of Parliament for the Oxfordshire constituency of
   Witney.

   Promoted to the Opposition front bench two years after entering
   Parliament, Cameron rose rapidly to be head of policy co-ordination
   during the 2005 general election campaign. He won the Conservative
   leadership after presenting himself as a young and moderate candidate
   who would appeal to young voters. His leadership has seen the
   Conservative Party establish a clear lead in opinion polls.

Background

Family background

   David 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 was born
   in Scotland at Blairmore House near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, a house
   built by Cameron's grandfather Ewen Donald Cameron's maternal
   grandfather Alexander Geddes who had made a fortune in the grain
   business in Chicago and had returned to Scotland in the 1880s.

   The Cameron family were originally from the Inverness area. His
   father's family had a long history in the world of finance: David
   Cameron's great grandfather Arthur Francis Levita (brother of Sir Cecil
   Levita) of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers and his great-great grandfather
   Sir Ewen Cameron, London head of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank played
   key roles in discussions led by the Rothschilds with the Japanese
   central banker (later Prime Minister) Takahashi Korekiyo concerning the
   selling of war bonds during the Russo-Japanese war.

   His great grandfather Ewen Allan Cameron, a senior partner with Panmure
   Gordon stockbrokers was also a notable figure in the financial world
   serving on the Council for Foreign Bondholders and the Committee for
   Chinese Bondholders set up by the then Governor of the Bank of England
   Montagu Norman in November, 1935. His grandfather Ewen Donald and
   father Ian Donald also worked for Panmure Gordon stockbrokers.

   David Cameron is a descendant of King William IV and his mistress
   Dorothea Jordan (and thus 5th cousin, twice removed of Queen Elizabeth
   II) through his father's maternal grandmother Stephanie Levita,
   daughter of the society surgeon Sir Alfred Cooper who was also father
   of the statesman and author Duff Cooper, grandfather of the publisher
   and man of letters Rupert Hart-Davis and historian John Julius Norwich,
   and great grandfather of the TV presenter Adam Hart-Davis and
   journalist and writer Duff Hart-Davis (David's second cousins once
   removed). His mother is first cousin of the writer and political
   commentator Ferdinand Mount.

Eton

   He was educated at Eton College, probably the most prestigious English
   public school, following his elder brother Alex who was three years
   above him; where his early interest was in art. Cameron hit trouble in
   May 1982 six weeks before taking his O-levels when he was named as
   having smoked cannabis. Because he admitted the offence and had not
   been involved in selling drugs, he was not expelled, but he was fined,
   prevented from leaving school grounds, and given a "Georgic" (a
   punishment which involved copying 500 lines of Latin text).

   Cameron recovered from this episode and passed 12 O-Levels, and then
   studied three A-Levels in History of Art, History and Economics with
   Politics. He obtained three 'A' grades and a '1' grade in the
   Scholarship level exam in Economics and Politics. He then stayed on to
   sit the entrance exam for Oxford University, which was sat the
   following autumn. He passed, did well at interview, and was given a
   place at Brasenose College, his first choice.

   After finally leaving Eton just before Christmas 1984, Cameron had nine
   months of a gap year before going up to Oxford. In January he began
   work as a researcher for Tim Rathbone, Conservative MP for Lewes and
   his godfather, in his Parliamentary office. He was there only for three
   months, but used the time to attend debates in the House of Commons.
   Through his father, he was then employed for a further three months in
   Hong Kong by Jardine Matheson as a 'ship jumper', an administrative
   post for which no experience was needed but which gave him some
   experience of work.

   Returning from Hong Kong he visited Moscow and a Yalta beach in the
   Soviet Union, and was at one point approached by two Russian men
   speaking fluent English. Cameron was later told by one of his
   professors that it was 'definitely an attempt' by the KGB to recruit
   him.

Oxford

   Cameron 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
   and nicest" students he has taught, whose political views were
   "moderate and sensible conservative".

   While at Oxford, Cameron was captain of Brasenose College's tennis team
   . He was also a member of the student dining society the Bullingdon
   Club, which was originally founded as a cricket and hunting club but
   recently has a obtained a reputation for a drinking culture associated
   with boisterous behaviour and damaging property usually in the private
   rooms of restaurants and pubs hired out to the club. A photograph
   showing Cameron in a tailcoat with other members of the club including
   Boris Johnson surfaced in 2007, but was later withdrawn by the
   copyright holder. He also belonged to the Octagon Club, another dining
   society. Cameron graduated in 1988 with a first class honours degree.

Family life

   Cameron married Samantha Sheffield, daughter of Sir Reginald Sheffield,
   8th Baronet on 1 June 1996 at Ginge Manor in Oxfordshire. Among the
   guests at the wedding were Jade Jagger, a friend of the Sheffield
   family. The Camerons have three children. Their first child Ivan
   Reginald Ian was born on April 8, 2002. He was born with cerebral palsy
   and severe epilepsy. Recalling the receipt of this news, 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 Gwendoline (born January 19,
   2004), and another son, Arthur Elwen (born February 14, 2006). Cameron
   took paternity leave when his second son was born and this decision
   received broad coverage, including the BBC Six o'Clock News. Cameron
   has been urged by a Telegraph commentator to mention his family less in
   public.

Pre-Parliamentary career

Conservative Research Department

   After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research
   Department between 1988 and 1992. In 1991 he was seconded to Downing
   Street to work on briefing John Major for his then biweekly session of
   Prime Minister's Questions. One newspaper gave Cameron the credit for
   "sharper .. [ despatch box ] performances" by Major, which included
   highlighting for Major, "a dreadful piece of doublespeak" by Tony Blair
   over the effect of a national minimum wage. He became head of the
   political section of the Conservative Research Department, and in
   August 1991 was tipped to follow Judith Chaplin as Political Secretary
   to the Prime Minister.

   However, Cameron lost out to Jonathan Hill who was appointed in March
   1992. He was given the responsibility for briefing John Major for his
   press conferences during the 1992 general election.. During the
   campaign, Cameron was one of the young "Brat pack" of party strategists
   who worked between 12 and 20 hours a day, sleeping in the house of Alan
   Duncan in Gayfere Street which had been Major's campaign headquarters
   during his bid for the Conservative leadership. Cameron headed the
   economic section; it was while working on this campaign that Cameron
   first worked closely with Steve Hilton, who was later to become
   Director of Strategy during his party leadership. The strain of getting
   up at 4:45 AM every day was reported to have led Cameron to decide to
   leave politics in favour of journalism.

Special Adviser

   The Conservative's unexpected success in the 1992 election led Cameron
   to hit back at older party members who had criticised him and his
   colleagues. He was quoted as saying, the day after the election,
   "whatever people say about us, we got the campaign right" and that they
   had listened to their campaign workers on the ground rather than the
   newspapers. He revealed he had led other membes of the team across
   Smith Square to jeer at Transport House, the former Labour
   headquarters. Cameron was rewarded with a promotion to be Special
   Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont.

   Cameron was working for Lamont at the time of Black Wednesday, when
   pressure from currency speculators forced the Pound sterling out of the
   European Exchange Rate Mechanism. At the 1992 Conservative Party
   conference in October, Cameron had a tough time trying to arrange to
   brief the speakers in the economic debate, having to resort to putting
   messages on the internal television system imploring the mover of the
   motion Patricia Morris to contact him. Later that month Cameron joined
   a delegation of Special Advisers who visited Germany to build better
   relations with the Christian Democratic Union; he was reported to be
   "still smarting" over the Bundesbank's contribution to the economic
   crisis.

   Cameron's boss Norman Lamont fell out with John Major after Black
   Wednesday and became highly unpopular with the public. Taxes needed to
   be raised in the 1993 budget, and Cameron fed the options Lamont was
   considering through to Conservative Central Office for their political
   acceptablity to be assessed. However, Lamont's unpopularity did not
   necessarily affect Cameron: he was considered as a potential "kamikaze"
   candiate for the Newbury by-election, which included the area where he
   grew up. However, Cameron decided not to run.

   During the byelection, Lamont gave the response " Je ne regrette rien"
   to a question about his regrets over economic policy. Cameron was
   identified by one journalist as having inspired this gaffe; it was
   speculated that the heavy Conservative defeat in Newbury may have cost
   Cameron his chance of becoming Chancellor himself. Lamont was sacked at
   the end of May 1993, and decided not to write the usual letter of
   resignation; Cameron was given the responsibility to issue to the press
   a statement of self-justification.

Home Office

   After Lamont was sacked, Cameron remained at the Treasury for less than
   a month before being specifically recruited by Home Secretary Michael
   Howard; it was commented that he was still "very much in favour". It
   was later reported that many at the Treasury would have preferred
   Cameron to carry on. At the beginning of September 1993, Cameron
   applied to go on Conservative Central Office's list of Parliamentary
   candidates.

   According to Derek Lewis, then Director-General of the Prison Service,
   Cameron showed him a "his and hers list" of proposals made by Howard
   and his wife, Sandra. Lewis said that Sandra Howard's list included
   reducing the quality of prison food, although Sandra Howard denied this
   claim. Lewis reported that Cameron was "uncomfortable" about the list.
   In defending Sandra Howard and insisting that she made no such
   proposal, the journalist Bruce Anderson wrote that Cameron had proposed
   a much shorter definition on prison catering which revolved around the
   phrase "balanced diet", and that Lewis had written thanking Cameron for
   a valuable contribution.

   During his work for Howard, Cameron often briefed the press. In March
   1994, someone leaked to the press that the Labour Party had called for
   a meeting with John Major to discuss a consensus on the Prevention of
   Terrorism Act. After a leak inquiry failed to find the culprit, Labour
   MP Peter Mandelson demanded of Howard that he give an assurance that
   Cameron had not been responsible, which Howard gave.

Carlton

   In July 1994, Cameron left his role as Special Adviser to work as the
   Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications. Carlton, which
   had won the ITV franchise for London weekdays in 1991, were a growing
   media company which also had film distribution and video producing
   arms. In 1997 Cameron played up the company's prospects for digital
   terrestrial television, for which it joined with Granada television and
   BSkyB to form British Digital Broadcasting. In a roundtable discussion
   on the future of broadcasting in 1998 he criticised the effect of
   overlapping different regulators on the industry.

   Carlton's consortium did win the digital terrestrial franchise but the
   resulting company suffered difficulties in attracting subscribers. In
   1999 the Express on Sunday newspaper claimed Cameron had rubbished one
   of its stories which had given an accurate number of subscribers,
   because he wanted the number to appear higher than expected. Cameron
   resigned as Director of Corporate Affairs in February 2001 in order to
   fight for election to Parliament, although he remained on the payroll
   as a consultant.

Stafford candidate

   Having been approved for the candidates' list, Cameron began looking
   for a seat to contest. He was reported to have missed out on selection
   for Ashford in December 1994 after failing to get to the selection
   meeting due to train delays. Early in 1996, he was selected for
   Stafford, a new constituency created in boundary changes, which was
   projected to have a Conservative majority. At the 1996 Conservative
   Party conference he called for tax cuts in the forthcoming budget to be
   targeted at the low paid and to "small businesses where people took
   money out of their own pockets to put into companies to keep them
   going".

   When writing his election address, Cameron made his own opposition to
   British membership of the single European currency clear, pledging not
   to support it. This was a break with official Conservative policy but
   about 200 other candidates were making similar declarations. Otherwise,
   Cameron kept very closely to the national party line. He also
   campaigned using the claim that a Labour government would increase the
   cost of a pint of beer by 24p; however the Labour candidate David
   Kidney portrayed Cameron as "a right-wing Tory". Stafford had a swing
   almost the same as the national swing, which made it one of the many
   seats to fall to Labour: David Kidney had a majority of 4,314.

Parliamentary career

Selection contests

   In the round of selection contests taking place in the run-up to the
   2001 general election, Cameron again attempted to be selected for a
   winnable seat. He tried out for the Kensington and Chelsea seat after
   the death of Alan Clark, but did not make the shortlist. He was in the
   final two but narrowly lost at Wealden in March 2000, a loss ascribed
   by Samantha Cameron to his lack of spontaneity when speaking.

Witney candidate

   On 4 April 2000 Cameron was selected as prospective candidate for
   Witney in Oxfordshire. This was a safe Conservative seat but its
   sitting MP Shaun Woodward (who had worked with Cameron on the 1992
   election campaign) had joined the Labour Party; newspapers claimed
   Cameron and Woodward had "loathed each other", although Cameron's
   biographers Francis Elliott and James Hanning describe them as being
   "on fairly friendly terms". Cameron put a great deal of effort into
   "nursing" his constituency, turning up at social functions, and
   attacked Woodward for changing his mind on fox hunting to support a
   ban.

   During the election campaign, Cameron accepted the offer of writing a
   regular column for The Guardian's online section. He won the seat with
   a 1.9% swing to the Conservatives and a majority of 7,973.

Parliament

   Upon his election to Parliament, he served as a member of the Commons
   Home Affairs Select Committee, a plum choice for a new MP. It was
   Cameron's proposal that the Committee launch an inquiry into the law on
   drugs, and during the inquiry he urged the consideration of "radical
   options". The report recommended a downgrading of Ecstasy from Class A
   to Class B, as well as moves towards a policy of ' harm reduction',
   which Cameron defended.

   Cameron determinedly attempted to increase his public profile, offering
   quotes on matters of public controversy. He opposed the payment of
   compensation to Gurbux Singh, who had resigned as head of the
   Commission for Racial Equality after a confrontation with the police;
   and commented that the Home Affairs Select Committee had taken a long
   time to discuss whether the phrase "black market" should be used.
   However, he was passed over for a front bench promotion in July 2002;
   Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith did invite Cameron and his ally
   George Osborne to coach him on Prime Minister's Questions in November
   2002. The next week, Cameron deliberately abstained in a vote on
   allowing same sex and unmarried couples to adopt children jointly,
   against a whip to oppose; his abstention was noted. The wide scale of
   abstentions and rebellious votes destabilised the Iain Duncan Smith
   leadership.

   In June 2003, Cameron was appointed as a shadow minister in the Privy
   Council Office as a deputy to Eric Forth who was then Shadow Leader of
   the House. He also became a vice 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.

   From February 2002 until August 2005 he was a non-executive director of
   Urbium PLC, operator of the Tiger Tiger bar chain.

Leadership of the Conservative 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 change the leadership election rules.

   Cameron announced formally that he would be a candidate for the
   position on 29 September 2005. Parliamentary colleagues supporting him
   initially included 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, his campaign did not gain significant support prior to the 2005
   Conservative Party Conference. 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, 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,
   with 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, 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 been a Member of
   Parliament for just over four years, making him 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 was not the
   youngest post-war leader of the Conservative Party; this record belongs
   to William Hague, elected at the age of 36.

Allegations of 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.

   A 2007 book revealed his Eton punishment for cannabis use and claims
   Cameron continued to smoke the drug while studying at Oxford. According
   to friends he described his school experience as a "wake-up call".

Shadow Cabinet appointments

   His Shadow Cabinet appointments have included 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, assisted by Davis, stood in for Cameron during
   his paternity leave in February 2006.

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. An opinion poll in February 2007
   showed that a Cameron-led Conservative Party would have a 42% to 29%
   lead over a Gordon Brown-led Labour.

Policies and views

   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 "financial wealth".
   There have been claims that he described himself to journalists at a
   dinner during the leadership contest as the " heir to Blair".

   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.

   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.

   Some political commentators have suggested that his style is influenced
   by the Swedish Moderate Party leader and current Prime Minister,
   Fredrik Reinfeldt, who advocates moving to the centre and supporting
   traditionally centre-left issues and in fact, Reinfelt himself has been
   called the "Swedish David Cameron".

Economic policy

   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".

   Cameron has recently expressed interest in introducing "frequent flyer"
   taxes on those who frequently fly around the globe. But he has said
   that this would be a replacement tax as opposed to an additional tax.

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...", which
   Cameron believes was taken out of context. 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.

   In July 2006 Cameron made a second speech to the Centre for Social
   Justice in which he highlighted the problem of young offenders and
   called for more understanding. The News of the World headlined its
   report of the speech "Hug a hoodie, says Cameron", coining a phrase
   which came into popular use, although Cameron never used the phrase.
   Cameron never advocated hugging 'hoodies'.

   Cameron has criticised ASBOs as "reacting" to crime, rather than
   reducing it, and argued that they should be replaced with "challenging
   community punishments." In the same speech he also argued that young
   offenders should be shown "a lot more love" and more understanding into
   why youths commit crime, specifically calling for more youth
   counselling, education and training. Cameron was mocked by many Labour
   MPs for the speech, but he received unexpected backing from right-wing
   peer Norman Tebbit. Cameron has repeatedly defended his argument,
   saying that although "I understand, you break the law, you get
   punished" it was important "to understand what's gone wrong in these
   children's lives."

Health

   Cameron has commended 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: N.H.S. Upon becoming
   party leader, he confirmed that the "patient's passport" policy from
   the 2005 manifesto (a subsidy for private treatment at 50% of the
   equivalent NHS cost) 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 2007, and has publicly asked the Labour leadership to
   support the bill, after he supported Blair's education reforms.

Education

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

   Regarding higher education, Cameron has reversed the Conservative's
   2005 election manifesto policy on tuition fees; a future Conservative
   government under Cameron would not remove the fees currently in place.

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 Climate Change Levy to a carbon tax in order
   to counter global warming. Cameron proposed a Climate Change Bill which
   would include committing to binding annual carbon reduction targets.
   However, a memo was leaked to the Labour Party suggested the binding
   targets proposal may be dropped, and these do not form part of the
   proposed Bill as of November 2006.

   It has been widely publicised that Cameron on occasion cycles to work.
   However, an official car that followed him carrying his clothes and
   official documents was photographed by the media, leading to
   accusations that his bicycling image was "spin". Cameron has since
   stated that this happened only "once or twice" and has vowed that it
   will not happen again, now that he has a pannier to carry documents. In
   the same interview he admitted that since becoming leader of the
   Conservative Party he is now only able to cycle to work once a week.

   David 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. Cameron has asked the
   disability charity Scope to advise on employment policy, claiming it is
   "morally wrong and economically stupid for five million on incapacity
   benefit who could work to be left on the scrap-heap." The government
   has disputed the figures.

Drugs, alcohol and tobacco

   Cameron is in favour of drug law review and 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.

   In 2005 Cameron appeared as a guest on BBC 1's Friday Night With
   Jonathan Ross in which he and presenter Jonathan Ross debated their
   views on class-A drugs. Ross raised issues about the legalisation of
   class-A drugs, which Cameron dismissed, saying, "I don't think we
   should legalise drugs. Much more emphasis on treatment is the key. If
   you get addicts off the street it helps to collapse the market. The
   other key is education."

   In the past Cameron has smoked cigarettes, though he is now reported to
   have quit after six attempts. Cameron did not vote in Parliament on the
   bill that created the Health Act 2006, which introduced a complete
   smoking ban in enclosed public places in the UK.

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, he recognises "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, viewing it
   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, some members of which 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",
   arguing 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, confirming
   this stance 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". Subsequently he supported a motion
   brought by 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 criticised for this in 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 it for 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 Hezbollah.

European Union

   Immediately after his election as leader, he restated his pledge to
   withdraw the party's MEPs from 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 a group 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 withdraw from the EPP in 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.

   Cameron is currently against 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 1998
   which came into force 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.

ID cards

   Cameron has spoken out against identity cards on a number of occasions.
   He has also confirmed that under a future Conservative government the
   present plans for ID cards would be scrapped.

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. . There is a history of hunting in
   his mother's family- her grandfather Sir William Mount, 1st Baronet
   fell off his horse after having a heart attack and was pronounced dead
   whilst out hunting with the South Berks hunt in 1930.

Criticism of other parties and politicians

   Cameron has accused the United Kingdom Independence Party of being
   "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly," leading UKIP leader
   Nigel Farage to demand an apology for the remarks. Right-wing
   Conservative MP Bob Spink also criticised the remarks, as did the The
   Daily Telegraph.

   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". He has also said that John
   Prescott "clearly looks a fool" in light of allegations of ministerial
   misconduct. During a speech to the Ethnic Media Conference on 29
   November 2006 Cameron also described Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of
   London, as an "ageing far left politician" in reference to
   Livingstone's views on multiculturalism.

Criticism of Cameron

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". Cameron has responded
   to criticism from Hitchens by branding him a "maniac", according to
   Hitchens himself in his Mail on Sunday column..

   Cameron was characterised as " Dave the Chameleon", who would change
   what he said to match the expectations of his audience, in a Labour
   Party Political Broadcast. Cameron later claimed that the broadcast had
   become his daughter's "favourite video".

Allegations of social 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".
   Cameron's background was the subject, in part, of a Dispatches
   programme on March 2007 on Channel 4 written and presented by Peter
   Hitchens.

   In a similar way, Cameron's "A-List" of prospective Parliamentary
   Candidates has been attacked by members of his party. One 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. The "A-List" policy has now been discontinued in favour of
   gender balanced final short lists.

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 in the same way as "Call me Tony" was used in
   1997. The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein has condemned those who
   attempt to belittle Cameron by calling him 'Dave'.

   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. Cameron
   came in at second place, just behind the number one Daniel Craig, in GQ
   Magazine's 2007 list of the most stylish men.

   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.

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

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

   On 19 March 2007, Cameron was forced to remove the wind turbine
   installed on his house's roof because it voided planning permission.

Offices held

   Parliament of the United Kingdom
   Preceded by
   Shaun Woodward Member of Parliament for Witney
   2001–present Incumbent
   Political offices
   Preceded by
   Michael Howard Leader of the British Conservative Party
   2005–present Incumbent
   Leader of the Opposition
   2005–present
   Leaders of the Conservative Party

   The Duke of Wellington · Sir Robert Peel · The Earl of Derby · Benjamin
   Disraeli · The Marquess of Salisbury · Arthur Balfour · Andrew Bonar
   Law · Stanley Baldwin · Neville Chamberlain · Winston Churchill ·
   Anthony Eden · Harold Macmillan · Sir Alec Douglas-Home · Edward Heath
   · Margaret Thatcher · John Major · William Hague · Iain Duncan Smith ·
   Michael Howard · David Cameron
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
