Word: cameronism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Amid the flattery and the flummery, what truths might a candid friend impart to Cameron? Here are a few thoughts...
Just as Obama's critics question the substance behind the change message, Cameron has come under pressure to provide a clearer picture of what that change might entail. "The public wants a song to sing," says Bogdanor. "They want to know what sort of theme would be the main theme of the Conservative government...
Fuzziness is a prerogative of a party in opposition - why commit yourself before it's necessary? - but it's also a function of Conservatism. Cameron may harp on about change, but the changes he envisages are incremental. Discussing Thatcher's impact with TIME, he talks of "an enormously important revolution," then immediately corrects himself. "I'm a Conservative. I don't believe in revolutions ... An enormously important development...
...Cameron once described himself as "the heir to Blair." The comment, over dinner at the 2005 Tory party conference, horrified hard-line colleagues who suspected his brand of Conservatism concealed a dangerously liberal core. What he meant, says Cameron, is that "politicians have to understand what has come before." That includes recognizing strengths - and weaknesses. Cameron voted, with reluctance, for military action in Iraq and later sent constituents copies of a speech Blair made in support of the invasion. "The problem with Blair is that he was a liberal interventionist without a hand brake," says Cameron now. "There...
...been overwhelmed with applications to attend. For much of the past decade, these annual conventions have been downbeat affairs, sparsely attended convocations of fleshy men in gold-buttoned blazers. "Success breeds success. When we were in the doldrums, nobody but the diehards would break bread with the Tories," says Cameron's close colleague...