MANCHESTER (England) - TIPPED as Britain's next prime minister, David Cameron is a media-savvy moderniser who has wrenched his party from the past to give it the first real hope of winning power in 12 years.
Since Mr Cameron took over in 2005, the centre-right Conservatives have been transformed from what a former chairwoman once called the 'nasty' party into a viable alternative to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's ruling Labour.
The 42-year-old has managed to suppress some of the more overtly right-wing elements of his party, particularly on immigration and Europe, two issues which had divided the Tories for years.
Mr Cameron advocates a more 'compassionate Conservatism", where traditional Tory values such as greater individual responsibility and decentralisation of power go hand in hand with more focus on social issues.
Mr Cameron has so far fought off traditionalists who accuse him of betraying core Tory values, but the re-emergence of the Europe issue following Ireland's vote on the EU treaty on Friday will require some deft political footwork.
Analysts note that despite holding a double-digit lead in opinion polls for much of the past 18 months, the Tories have yet to gather the kind of popular support that swept Labour's Tony Blair to power in 1997. -- AFP
Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:11 pm