Cameron has engaged in some very clever PR stunts to give the impression of 'niceness' and you have swallowed it hook, line and sinker, but where are his actual policies on green issues or social justice?

The Tories just seem to be offering the same Thatcherite solutions they did in the 80s - build more roads and out of town shops, say cutting price of petrol is more important (although they won't do anything about it), and propose cutting public services and magically relying on an inadequate charitable third sector to take its place. Same old Tories, Cameron's cuddly image is just that - image.

Saying all that, if people do actually believe his crafted image, it might be difficult for us to score points - so in one way maybe you are right - maybe we should say Cameron is everything he says he is and then lose the election that way instead of losing it the other way.

Neil, Blair was policy-lite supreme before Labour won in '97.

Thats a tremdndously insightful post.Cameron will not have a lot of trouble with the Party which is far more Conservative and less Neo Liberal than would appear from the blogasphere. Margaret Thatcher was , of course much loved , but that was in the context of the perceived need to defend the country from the Unions and forced of the hard left in the 70s. She was actually on the left in her early career. She really only became the spitting image puppet as time went on
In more consensual times conservatism re-asserts itself and Cameron is so obviously a conservative that he almost defines it evolves ( which it always does ).
The problem will not come from the "right " of the Party who are weak but from the state of the country?s finances and the economy , this may produce more pressure for tax cuts than he can withstand , I hope not . Cameron has had little credit for preparing the way for tax rises and negotiating a compromise on Europe but both have been achieved .It is commonly said that there is no enthusiasm for a Conservative government but I am not convinced .I am also not convinced that the economy is so bad that Labour's current travails can be blamed entirely on it. Cameron IMHO has been underestimated from the just as Brown was overestimated .

Having said that Brown is being absurdly harshly judged just as Major was . I agree with the main thrust of this post and I have also recognised many of the errors I remember all too well in the reactions of the Labour Party. If I was concerned about the long term future of Labour I would say this . Trying, now, to avoid an electoral judgement by a sleight of hand /change at the top must be tempting but it would be a mistake . In the fullness of time Brown will still be remembered with more affection than Blair and rebirth comes from developing resources in the Party not transplanting American ideas where they will not put down roots . Labour must go to the Polls with its record good and bad and be seen as an honest dealer with the people . From there it has to realign itself with ordinary working people who perceive it as only interested in 'Causes'. Stop running a 24 hour press campaign and inventing silly laws on the hoof driven by focus groups , the media and the Conservative Party.
This is not so impossible and if trust could be re-established I think at the very least the next election need not be a catastrophe. In all honesty I cannot see any way to win from this point but it appears to me that the very worst people have their hands on the tiller.
My further disinterested advice would be this. Just as the Conservatives had to stop being obsessed with the past Labour has to stop being obsessed with the imagined future and this means not continually telling everyone that everything they value wish for and fear is wrong.

This picture of him terrifies me is he the new blowfelt. What evil plans is he thinking up. Blowflet had a white cat he has a puppy.

I think Blofeld had a white cat as well....;))

Which leads me nicely on to tell the tale of Ian Fleming. He was horribly bullied at Eton...by the later architect Erno Goldfinger, the father of Henry Blofeld and a chap called Scaramanga....

Revenge is a dish better served cold......

So... there is an Eton connection then. I wonder if young Davy was bullied too.

Paul Sandars How do you know this Were you Goldfinger

Paul Sandars Or are you scaramanga. How is your 3rd nipple?

Hoping your SAT results were good, and what you wanted for next year's banding, Mickey.

Cameron doesn't have to convince the party that he is right about everything - he just has to get them to shut up long enough to win the next general election!

Why do you think I am doing sats? Do you normally only talk to under 16 year old on the internet.

Mickey, do you write reports for Policy Exchange by any chance?