Bruce Anderson: Cameron as Radical as Thatcher
Bruce Anderson is a British conservative political columnist.
It might seem blasphemous to compare Easter to the interval between rounds in a boxing match, but 10 Downing St is certainly grateful for the break. The last round went badly for David Cameron.
Although it is hardly unprecedented for a Government to be on poor terms with the opinion polls at this stage of a Parliament, it would be unwise for No 10 to regard its recent travails as a mere glitch. As it is unlikely that there will be a full-throated economic recovery between now and 2015, the Tories’ next general election campaign will have to emphasise economic competence and leadership. So it is not a good idea for the Government to fumble and stumble.
But there is a more basic difficulty. Most voters – and many of his own colleagues – still do not understand Mr Cameron. That might seem strange. He is not a complicated fellow; what you see is what you get. Yet few politicians’ characters have ever been so misread. His detractors insist that he is an insubstantial figure who uses his public relations training to conceal the extent to which he is trapped in his background. That is a travesty. The real Cameron is that most unusual phenomenon: a serene radical...