David Cameron: Thoroughly modern Dave or the most traditional Tory leader ever? - Telegraph Conservative David Cameron: Thoroughly modern Dave or the most traditional Tory leader ever? If the Conservatives are truly Downing Street bound, what are the qualities and beliefs of the man who will deliver them? Charles Moore meets David Cameron. David Cameron Photo: MARK POWER MAGNUM PHOTOS 10:30PM BST 26 Sep 2008 Lunching with David Cameron in the House of Commons, I decide to play that game when you offer your interlocutor either/or choices. The only rule is that he must choose one or the other. Cameron enjoys games. He answers quickly and confidently. Red or white? 'Red.’ Bitter or lager? 'Bitter.’ Meat or fish? 'Meat.’ Town or country? 'Country.’ Cricket or football? 'Cricket.’ Tea or coffee? 'Coffee.’ Milk in first or second? 'Second.’ On to popular culture. Again, he is at ease. He knows what he likes. He prefers Star Trek to Dr Who, The Simpsons to Family Guy, and the Beatles to the Stones. If he doesn’t know, he doesn’t pretend. Facebook or Bebo?

'They came too late for me.’ When I offer him Big Brother or The Apprentice, he breaks the rules by refusing the choice. 'I hate both of them,’ he says, 'I can’t bear Alan Sugar.’ It’s the rudeness, apparently: 'I’m just not interested. I like TV to escape.’ And what about Naughtie or Humphrys? 'Naughtie. In all senses. More fun to have a beer with.’ I try him out on two of the TV programmes of his childhood – The Wombles or The Clangers? This stirs him up: 'I didn’t get The Clangers,’ he says, 'The Soup Dragon! What was it all about? Samantha [his wife] would be the opposite, by the way. She would see the point. At least the Wombles were doing something useful – an early example of social action.’ It is a very Cameron answer – amused, practical-minded, keen to make a point lightly, and aware that there exists, in the form of his wife, a different way of looking at things. He prefers the Wombles amiably picking up litter on Wimbledon Common to the Clangers making strange warbling whistles on their small blue planet.

David Cameron inhabits a popular idiom. He does not abase himself to popular culture like Tony Blair, changing his accent to suit his audience. He does not need to. His speaking style, he says, is 'conversational’: 'My references are all movies and telly.’ They come naturally. Related Articles Davis: Tories lack financial crisis policy 26 Sep 2008 Just over a year ago, Gordon Brown, ahead in the polls, looked as though he would call a general election at any moment. Cameron had a last chance to rally his troops at his party’s conference. He ended his speech with a challenge to the Prime Minister to make up his mind: 'So, Mr Brown, what’s it going to be?’ was how he put it. 'It’s a line from The Guns of Navarone,’ Cameron says, 'Gregory Peck or David Niven – but I only remembered that afterwards.’ The Tories rose in the polls and Gordon Brown, famously, 'bottled it’. But while thoroughly modern Dave is the genuine article, he is also, in other ways, the most traditional Conservative leader for more than 40 years.

'He’s Alec-Douglas-Home-goes-to-the-Glastonbury-Festival,’ says one mildly critical friend. As is well known, Cameron went to Eton and Oxford. 'For some time, my full name was “The Old Etonian David Cameron”,’ he says ruefully. His father was a stockbroker and his mother a Justice of the Peace. He was brought up in an old rectory in Berkshire, where he played cricket and tennis a lot, and hunted and shot a bit. If he becomes Prime Minister, he will be the first since Alec Home to have had a wholly rural upbringing. He may be the first Tory leader to look natural in shorts and bicycle helmet, with an iPod in his ears, but if you got him into breeches, added a double chin to his rather red face, and topped him off with a powdered wig, he would resemble one of those English grandees painted by Reynolds or Zoffany, calmly surveying their pleasingly large number of acres. Is the party’s arch-moderniser in reality a throwback? Searching for Cameron’s roots, I dropped in on his family’s home village of Peasemore. It is small, quiet, still countrified.

In the porch of the Victorian church, the parish electoral roll numbers 29, of whom four are Camerons. David’s mother, Mary, appears on the rotas for the flowers and the church-cleaning. In the parish news, which is pinned to the noticeboard, prayers are invited 'for those suffering in body, mind or spirit’. Among those named is Ivan Cameron, David and Samantha’s elder son, who from birth has had a condition that prevents him from speaking, walking or even eating except through a tube to the stomach. Across the graveyard is a small wrought-iron gate that leads to the Old Rectory, where David grew up and his brother’s family now lives. 'When I think of church, I think of home,’ Cameron has said, and the reasons are literally visible. But, as with most things that matter to him, he is keen, without disparagement, to play it down a little: 'We didn’t all sit around reading the Bible every day,’ he says. But some of your family are holy, I respond. Your great-uncle was a bishop and they are all practising Anglicans. 'Anglican and holy are not the same thing at all,’ he replies, laughing.

'For me, it’s about doing to others as you would be done by. You have a responsibility to the wider community’, and he moves with relief away from the tricky, Blair-soiled area of spirituality into a paean of praise for church schools, at one of which – St Mary Abbots, in Kensington – his daughter, Nancy, has just started. He and Samantha therefore attend church there: 'You’re becoming part of the community. It’s got a creche: churches all over the country should have this. Sometimes I lead the creche and it’s certainly good for me because, like many men, I’m not very good at structured playtime. I would defend church schools: the whole thing is a virtuous circle.’ Everyone who knew the young David Cameron characterises his Peasemore upbringing thus: it was happy, inter-generational, comfortable without being luxurious or extravagant, peopled by grandparents, cousins and friends. Food was not out of a packet, but nor was it fancy – cottage pie, bone stew. Holidays were in Cornwall (Cameron was back in the same village for part of his break last month), not in glamorous abroad.

The domestic atmosphere was well balanced between his sociable, race-going father – 'the man who loves the good life,’ as Cameron describes him – a Thatcherite Eurosceptic in politics, and his mother, more high-minded and 'quiet-strong’ (David’s phrase), and more drawn to 'One Nation’ conservatism. Neither parent is a university graduate, but both encouraged high-quality mealtime conversation about public affairs from an early age. The elder daughter, Tania, whom Cameron describes as 'the family leftie’, argued against the grain, and David himself, says a close relation, was 'not coy’ in these discussions, joining in from the age of 10 or so. In the early 1980s the Greenham Common protests about the siting of cruise missiles were taking place up the road from Peasemore, and the young David went to have a look at them. He was not sympathetic. In what he calls the 'divisive and aggressive politics’ of that time, he strongly supported Mrs Thatcher. But the Old Rectory, Peasemore, though certainly Tory, and with past MPs nestling in both family trees, was not a strongly party-political household.

Nor was it one in which work or careers were much discussed. If there is one thing that David Cameron says obsessively, it is that he has never been 'obsessive’ about anything. At school and university, he took no part in political activity. So it cannot be said that his upbringing pushed him hard towards politics, except by that force which is so powerful in many upper-middle-class English homes – the unspoken, internalised expectation that you should do your best. A more obvious psychological explanation might seem to lie in Ian Cameron’s disability. David’s father was born with badly deformed legs that required several operations and left him much shorter than he would otherwise have been. Many children of disabled parents want, as it were, to avenge such things, and are driven accordingly. But David denies that this applied to him. Ian was so entirely uncomplaining and so determined to live a normal life – playing tennis well, for example – that 'nobody considered him disabled’. David says he was 'profoundly unconscious’ of his father’s condition.

Once, with his father among the Cornish sand-dunes, he overheard someone rudely saying, 'That guy’s wearing funny boots.’ He thought to himself, 'That’s odd: no one ever says that’: he had hardly noticed it before. Today, Ian Cameron has had both legs amputated, and has lost the sight in one eye, but 'he’s still a great lover of life’. The parents and all four children and their offspring are planning a family holiday next year in France. The only family explanation David can offer for what drives him is 'younger brother syndrome’. Alex, three years older than he, was in Pop (the self-selecting club of prefects) at Eton, handsome, brilliant at acting. David says that younger sons can be 'terribly stuck in the shadow’ of their elder brothers, and this happened to him at school. It was only when he won his exhibition to Oxford that he felt 'I’ve broken free’. He turned out, when he read PPE, to be good at it – the best of his year in Brasenose College – and he got a First. This growing realisation of ability bred ambition. It has been the same in politics.

As long as 15 years ago, Alex, who, like Tony Blair’s older brother, Bill, is a QC, was telling anyone who would listen that young Dave would be a good bet for the top. He had the mental strength, he thought, the sheer ability, and the gift of seizing the moment. David Cameron admits that he is 'yes, driven and ambitious’, but says he does not quite know why: 'There has not been one single event or experience in my life which triggered it off. It has always been there.’ He adds, 'I fear failure, which is a very big motivation.’ All he ever wanted to be was a Member of Parliament, he insists. The leadership was a 'late-dawning thought’.

It is fair to say that many friends and family disagree: 'He is extremely nice and apparently normal,’ says one relation, 'but he has always been possessed by the idea of being Prime Minister.’ For himself, Cameron claims only competence and determination rather than originality: 'I wasn’t the fastest at seeing just what a calamity had befallen the Tories in 1997 [he himself lost what would normally have been a Conservative seat in Stafford], but I think I was very good at taking it and getting on to the next stage.’ Now, a new, bigger stage – No 10 Downing Street – looks seriously possible. What are Cameron’s qualities and beliefs that will get his party there? For someone with such a good formal education, David Cameron is unusual in deriving his political views so directly from his personal experience rather than books or newspapers. The one thing about which he is, say friends, 'evangelical’ is marriage and family. If this view came solely from the respectable and notably undivorced Camerons, it might seem a bit out of touch. But when Cameron married Samantha Sheffield, he was entering a considerably more raffish set-up.

At the wedding, indeed, the more austere Mary Cameron apologised jokingly to her friends for the showy vulgarity of the whole thing. If you have several hours to spare, you can study the complexities of Samantha’s family, which is set out in full genealogical detail in Burke’s Peerage. Here it is, in simplest form: Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet, married Annabel Jones. They produced two daughters, Samantha and Emily, and then quickly parted. Annabel married the 4th Viscount Astor, with whom she had three more children. Sir Reginald married Victoria Walker, and forth came three more Sheffields. According to Cameron, this produced a surprising degree of inter-family harmony and what is known as 'the Sheffield/Astor gipsy encampment’, held together by the 'glue’ of Samantha and Emily. The day he and I meet, he has been to a party given by Emily the night before – 'All the different sisters were there.’ He thinks that children from broken families are often drawn closer together than those from more stable homes. The Camerons don’t necessarily ring one another up very often 'because we know we’re all here’.

The Sheffield/Astors, on the other hand, 'literally see each other once or twice a week’, and some of them help David and Samantha with childcare. 'To those who say I overprioritise the traditional family’, David Cameron would like to point out that Samantha’s stepfather (Lord Astor) and stepmother (Lady Sheffield) have recently been on a fishing holiday together, without their spouses. Although there is a suggestion of clannishness here that some might dislike, this extended family warmth is an attractive thing. It speaks well for Cameron that he is as much loved by his in-laws as by his own family. This is the context that helps Samantha and him bear the burden of Ivan’s condition. This has been written about so often that people may now take it for granted, but such total disability is utterly unrelenting. When Ivan goes away from home, he has to travel in a van – complete with a ramp – to carry what Cameron calls 'the impedimenta – special this and special that’. On holiday, they must always be within reach of a hospital.

So any expedition involves a huge amount of planning: 'Samantha could organise the invasion of Russia: if she had, they’d have made it to Vladivostok.’ At all times, there are frequent hospital visits, which have given Cameron his admiration for the people in the NHS and his dismay at its bureaucracy: 'You could spend your life booking and rebooking appointments. You come to hate the system.’ Every week, as Cameron puts it, 'there’s something. Last night, Ivan had fits for an hour. Extreme epilepsy is very chaotic.’ Sometimes, Ivan is in terrible pain. Recently, because his limbs atrophy since he cannot move them, he broke a leg. A friend says that, when in pain, the child 'howls like a trapped animal’. Another says sadly, 'You know, there’s nothing there.’ David Cameron would never speak or think in that way about his son. When he talks about Ivan, he is at his best. He mixes tenderness with directness and a lack of sentimentality. After a 'happy birth’, Ivan did not put on weight, and was strangely sleepy. Within days, it was clear that something was seriously wrong, and he was christened early for fear that he might die.

Ivan’s condition is genetic, and since he is the Camerons’ first child, they had to decide whether to risk having more. It was not, says Cameron, a difficult decision. Before the birth of Nancy, who was later followed by Arthur – always known by his second name, Elwen – it was a sad time: 'Ivan was a wonderful boy and all that, but everything was a bit of a burden.’ Once Nancy came, and was healthy, 'You stop being a nursemaid and start being a parent’: 'This makes you a better parent to Ivan too’. By the same token, he never seriously considered stepping down as an MP to care for Ivan: 'You have to make the right decision for you about this. We knew that we’re not going to be the most brilliant parents. Some people are angels and give up everything. We’re not angels.’ Now, though preposterously busy, he finds 'the great advantage of being the boss’ is that he has ultimate control (just) over his diary. He is usually at home twice a week in time for supper and once a week for bathtime. Weekends still exist.

Being an active, outdoors sort of man, who loves 'digging and cutting things down and painting sheds’, Cameron finds that the hardest thing is making sure that Ivan is part of what is happening with the other children. He is, says Cameron, 'very limited in what he can do’, which is a touchingly courteous way of describing his drastic condition. The danger is that he is 'included but not included’. There is always the sense that he cannot join in, and 'That is tough’ (as if the rest of it isn’t). 'The real worry is, how much does he know?’ Sometimes, Cameron thinks that Ivan knows nothing. At others, he feels that if he could speak he would say, 'If you read me Bob the Builder one more time, I’ll bloody knife you.’ Hesitantly, I ask Cameron if they worry constantly that Ivan might suddenly die. He is not offended by the question. 'You’re quite philosophical about it. You know that children like Ivan never make it to old age. You live by the day. But he doesn’t want to give up.

This little person just wants to keep going.’ Friends – and it is interesting how plentiful and long-standing friends are in the life of David Cameron – are unanimous about the strength of his marriage to Samantha, and how well both of them have dealt with the tragedy of Ivan. 'He’s very observational,’ says a woman who has been a good friend for a quarter of a century, and attractive to girls without being disturbingly so. He notices what you are wearing, and what you are worrying about, she says, and Samantha has brought out this 'girly side’ to him. Many note his total respect for his wife. Samantha was an art student, and is five years younger than he, without a university degree. An arrogant husband might patronise her or ignore her opinions, but he does not. 'She always says “Me and Dave”, instead of “Dave and I”,’ observes one of Samantha’s friends, 'but he never corrects her grammar. He knows that she is very intelligent.’ The only problem with his marriage is his fondness for eating too well at home, where he, as well as Samantha, cooks.

To preserve his modern image he must stay lean, rather than resembling, as is his natural physical tendency, the jowelly Tories of old. One member of his staff complains, 'He has only to go home and look at his lovely wife to put on 3lb.’ For Cameron, Samantha had – and has – the effect of taking him outside his Tory comfort zone. 'She grew up in the 1990s,’ he says, 'and saw the Tory Party on a declining trajectory. I grew up in the 1980s, when you had to decide which side you were on.’ Her friends were 'classic, art-schooly people: metropolitan, liberal, green before it was fashionable.’ Samantha’s set liked calling him 'Dave the Rave’ because, to them, he wasn’t. Dave, in turn, identified beliefs in Samantha that were less trendy than the outward appearance: 'If you dig down into values, she is quite conservative. Scratch her about the importance of teaching by ability, for example.

Getting to know her taught me that conservative values and the Conservative Party had grown apart.’ It strikes me that David Cameron has a slightly unusual combination of the stiff upper lip of old – not making a fuss, not complaining – and the more modern quality of what people like to call 'emotional literacy’. He says he has not thought of this before, and considers. He decides that this combination is not a contradiction, but a British characteristic. 'It’s well known, isn’t it? English people cry at weddings but not at funerals. I cry in the cinema. When my mother and I went to see Gallipoli, we were both in floods of tears. Neither of us wanted to leave the cinema at the end, for fear of being seen.’ Because David Cameron is a good companion – quick on the uptake, friendly, funny, with a neat way of pulling the rug from under what he has just said – it is possible to talk to him for quite a long time without noticing that you are not getting very far. This is not because of any concealment, although, as a former television PR and party backroom-boy, he is much sharper than his predecessors about what can (and cannot) be said to the press.

I believe his innumerable old friends who say that – beyond the already well-rehearsed but minor claims of teenage drug use – there are no skeletons in the cupboard. It is more a quality of character – an imperturbable normality which means that he is not tempted into the realms of mystery and imagination. Unlike most successful politicians, he does not seem needy. One old friend puts it as a paradox: 'He’s normal – that’s what is so special about him!’ Cameron has a 'hinterland’. He reads books and watches plenty of films, and has genuine enthusiasms, but they are, in his own words 'quite boring, I’m afraid, very mainstream’. He had never read Dickens at school, and so one day picked up Great Expectations and then David Copperfield and 'adored’ both, 'but Bleak House set me back a bit’. With Jane Austen, he likes the television versions, but can’t quite be doing with the originals. Favoured poems are Gray’s Elegy or the works of Wilfred Owen. He loves William Boyd, Graham Greene and Ian Fleming, but enjoys the Bond films more than the books, preferring the early 'cool and stylish’ ones such as Goldfinger.

Does he identify with the hero? 'Yes,’ he says with an unembarrassed laugh. Samantha 'devours’ modern novels and pushes one or two – The Kite Runner, for instance – his way. He thinks he has probably seen Where Eagles Dare 17 times, and he prefers war films to have a happy ending: 'I love A Bridge Too Far, but I always hope Arnhem will fall. I’m very disappointed it never changes.’ He reads political biographies. He enjoyed Douglas Hurd’s life of Robert Peel, which made him think worse of Disraeli ('flair, not content’) and better of Hurd’s subject: 'I don’t want to split the party, but Peel was both traditional and modern. He was a tough Chief Secretary in Ireland but he ended up supporting the emancipation of the Catholics.’ His heroes tend to be men of action, not thinkers or artists. He warms to Garibaldi, with his 'romantic nationalism’ and the stirring story of him 'sailing from Genoa and conquering Sicily and handing his conquest over to the king’. He admires Captain Cook and Clive of India, envying them their 'incredible freedom of action’.

There is nothing surprising about any of this, except that it is perhaps a bit more 'Boy’s Own’ than might be expected from a moderniser. Similarly, if you ask Cameron about more modern political figures, he is judicious and orthodox. He says he is 'definitely, definitely’ an enormous admirer of Margaret Thatcher, and believes she was 'on the right side of history’. But he is clearly wary of some aspects of her legacy. 'The Conservative Party often got her wrong,’ he goes on: she was much more pragmatic than she seemed and had 'what my cousin Ferdy Mount calls the long runway approach to politics’. But 'the poll tax was a disaster. Europe was the trigger: the poll tax was the loaded gun.’ What did he feel a year ago when Lady T appeared with Gordon Brown at the front door of No 10? 'I don’t think I was cross. I knew it wasn’t with malice aforethought by her. If she’d done it with Blair, God yes, I would have been very worried because a) it’s true that he does admire her and b) it would have been very powerful.

But with Brown, I’ve always thought that the problem is the calculation.’ All carefully put, well put, unrevealing. I push him further on his own politics. Is he Left or Right? He refuses the categorisation. As ever, he prefers the word 'mainstream’. Is he Chris Patten without the Euromania? He reflects for a moment. No, he says. He admires Patten, and 'I certainly find all his other views more attractive than his views on Europe’, but he also ('he says this himself’) got it wrong on the economy and 'was insufficiently a moderniser: he thought Mrs Thatcher had to opt for proportional representation and do a deal with the unions’. But Cameron agrees that he feels close to the 'Blue Chip’ group of grand, unThatcherite young Tories of which Patten was a leading light: 'I suppose they were modernising the Conservative Party and adapting it to the problems of the day.’ And what does he believe? A close friend says that the question should be reframed: 'He does not have strong ideology, but he has strong principles.’ The normally fluent David Cameron becomes slightly hesitant when the discussion takes this turn, and apologises for expressing himself badly.

What he wants for this country, he says, is 'not just a spray-paint job’: 'There is a radical idea about what’s wrong with Britain and that’s where I’ve got to prove the point.’ What is that radical idea? He burbles about applying the 'rich’ history of the Conservative Party to 'new challenges’. And here he displays the one fault for which almost all his friends do criticise him. He should 'show a little bit more passion and a little bit less reason,’ says one. 'He’s too frightened of making a fool of himself,’ says a shadow cabinet colleague. After a bit of a struggle, David Cameron sums it up: 'It is the stronger society. We need to be socially rich, as well as economically rich. My constituency [Witney, Oxfordshire] is a wonderful part of the world – you can see how a really good society can work.’ But then he starts adding, pragmatic as ever, that the economic circumstances of the country have now become so bad that his first two years as Prime Minister may be taken up with 'disaster recovery’. He is amused that Alistair Darling seems to agree with him.

In that 'good society’ of Witney, with its pretty villages and its non-existent unemployment and its posh delicatessens selling a beer called 'Double-barrel’, Cameron is genuinely admired, even loved. 'The way he speaks is funny, yet quite becoming,’ a pub landlady told me. 'He’s got down-to-earth charisma.’ Everyone notes that he takes nothing for granted, talks equally easily to all and seems genuinely to enjoy the place. His agent, Barry Norton, thinks that Cameron’s greatest satisfaction is 'a little glow inside him when he’s sorted something out – that’s what drives him.’ He believes that Cameron is, indeed, inspired by Witney: 'He’s almost doing nationally what he did here – going round on his bike to every village and having his picture taken in front of every church.’ His vision of Britain is one based on his home and his constituency. It is born of affection, and a sense of obligation. It is as if he is saying, I am grateful for my good luck and I know how good life in this country can be: why can’t we make it better for everyone? After lunch in Parliament, Cameron and I return to his office, and he ponders a little more.

'I think I am a very easy person to read,’ he says. He is referring to all that mainstream normality, that lack of trauma or oddity in his nature. This is true, but I suspect that to read him fully, you need to look at him in a different way. David Cameron seems to me the outstanding modern example of a very old British type. He has all the attributes that the public-school education has ever tried to produce. He is tall and sporting and intelligent and well-mannered and moderate and confident and articulate. He is well educated but not intellectual, decisive but not domineering, a gentleman but not a snob. He is that once-famous ideal, 'the all-rounder’. He believes things, but nothing too much. His type has many limitations – a lack of originality, for instance, an absence of passion, the temptation of complacency – but it once ruled the world. That capacity is still in the genes. Cameron admits that when he began his career, he believed that an Etonian could no longer be Prime Minister: 'I’d read it so often.

It was the received wisdom.’ As time passed, however, he gained the confidence to say that 'what matters is not where you come from but have you got the right bloody ideas’. And yet it is not so much 'the right bloody ideas’ that are causing Cameron to succeed, as his character, and that does have something to do with where he comes from. On top of all the genuinely likeable qualities which inspire such loyalty and affection from so many friends, David Cameron has something less likeable but even more valuable for running the country – the necessary coldness which was world-famous when Britain had a ruling class, 'the mask of command’. Why, I ask a very old friend of his, why on earth does someone like Cameron, who could do any good job very well and have a pleasant life into the bargain, want to be Prime Minister? To understand Dave and his ability and his temperament, she replies, you have, as he would, to ask the question the other way round – 'Why not?’ David Cameron's Conservatives win outright in U.K. election FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest David Cameron's Conservatives win outright in U.K.

election British Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party surged to win a narrow majority in the country's general election, results showed Friday. Post to Facebook David Cameron's Conservatives win outright in U.K. election British Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party surged to win a narrow majority in the country's general election, results showed Friday. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. 53 To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs David Cameron's Conservatives win outright in U.K. election Kim Hjelmgaard and Jane Onyanga-Omara , USA TODAY Published 1:43 a.m. ET May 8, 2015 | Updated 11:51 a.m. ET May 8, 2015 CLOSE x Share USA TODAY's Michael Wolff discusses the victory for David Cameron and the United Kingdom's Conservative party. USA TODAY British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha Cameron leave Downing Street on May 8, 2015, in London, England.

(Photo: Dan Kitwood, Getty Images) LONDON — British Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party defied the polls and won an outright majority of Parliament, election results showed Friday. The party won 331 seats, enough to form a government without a coalition partner. The outcome defies months of polls forecasting a statistical dead heat between the two major parties — Conservative and Labour — with neither expected to win an outright majority, setting the stage for the country's second coalition government in a row. In a victory speech Friday outside 10 Downing Street, Cameron said the Conservative Party as a majority would be able to deliver all of its promises and pledged to hold a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union. "I truly believe we're on the brink of something special in our country," Cameron said. Together, we can make Great Britain greater still." Following protocol, Cameron met privately Friday at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth II to agree to the formation of his Conservative government. The final tally for the 650-seat House of Commons shows the Labour Party won 232 seats. Cameron's current coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, all but collapsed, winning only eight seats. It previously held 57 seats.

The pro-independence Scottish National Party surged to new heights, picking up 56 out of a possible 59 seats in Scotland. Only one Labour member of Parliament was elected in Scotland. A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. People watch election returns in a London pub on May 8. Jack Taylor, AFP/Getty Images British Prime Minister David Cameron, accompanied by his wife Samatha, greets members of the press outside the Conservative Party headquarters in London. Facundo Arrizabalaga, European Pressphoto Agency A woman sleeps as she waits for ballot papers to arrive during the Middlesbrough and East Cleveland Count in Redcar, England. Ian Forsyth, Getty Images Nigel Farage at a press conference in which he resigned as the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) near a hotel in Broadstairs, England. Matt Dunham, AP Monster Raving Loony Party candidate for Uxbridge and Ruislip South, "Howling Laud" Hope milks the applause on stage in west London. Justin Tallis, AFP/Getty Images London Mayor and newly elected Conservative Party MP for Uxbridge and Ruislip South, Boris Johnson, departs a stage after winning his seat in Uxbridge, London.

Justin Tallis, AFP/Getty Images Scottish National Party (SNP) supporters celebrate as election results are announced at the Glasgow election count at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. Andy Buchanan, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen Britain's Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, center, is greeted by supporters as he arrives at the party's headquarters in London. Miliband had earlier said his party had suffered a "difficult and disappointing night," as the rival Conservative Party won a resounding victory that gave it a likely parliamentary majority. Facundo Arrizabalaga, European Pressphoto Agency British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha enter 10 Downing St. in London after winning a second term. Andy Rain, Facundo Arrizabalaga, European Pressphoto Agency British politician Nick Clegg speaks to the media and party supporters at a press conference in London. He resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats following a poor showing by his party. Steve Parsons, AP Fullscreen Britain's Conservative Party leader David Cameron, center left, talks to party officials and workers at his Witney constituency count in Witney, England.

Cameron's Conservative Party fared much better than expected in parliamentary elections, an exit poll projected, suggesting it is within touching distance of forming a new government. Alastair Grant, AP Ballot papers are counted at the Glasgow count for the U.K. parliamentary elections in Glasgow, Scotland on May 7. Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images Election officials react as they are given ballot papers ready to be counted, at Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Britain. Robert Perry, European PressPhoto Agency Debbie Carpenter, an equestrian groom, rides back to Three Oaks, a residential home serving as a polling station on May 7 in Bramshill, southern England. Polls opened Thursday in Britain's closest general election in decades. Adrian Dennis, AFP/Getty Images People vote at the East Hull Amateur Boxing Club in Hull, northern England. Oli Scarff, AFP/Getty Images Conservative Party leader David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, leave a voting station in Spelsbury, England, as protesters demonstrate outside. Alastair Grant, AP A man leaves after casting his vote in a trailer at Grange Farm in Garthorpe. Joe Giddens, AP Voters leave a polling station at the West Blatchington Windmill near Brighton.

Glyn Kirk, AFP/Getty Images Scotland's First Minister and Leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon and her husband, Peter Murrell, wave after voting in Glasgow. Andy Buchanan, AFP/Getty Images Chelsea Pensioners, retired military personnel, leave after voting in London. Kirsty Wigglesworth, AP A woman casts her vote at the Glen Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Charles McQuillan, Getty Images Voters leave a temporary porta-cabin polling station in a parking lot at the Pantmawr Inn pub in Cardiff, south Wales. Geoff Caddick, AFP/Getty Images Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and his wife, Justine, arrive at Sutton Village Hall in Doncaster to cast their vote. Facundo Arrizabalaga, European Pressphoto Agency A man enters the Fox and Hounds pub to cast his ballot in Christmas Common. Peter Macdiarmid, Getty Images Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and his wife, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, arrive to vote at the Hall Park Centre in Sheffield. Jon Super, AP United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage leaves after casting his vote in Ramsgate in Kent. Carl Court, Getty Images Green Party leader Natalie Bennett smiles after voting.

Yui Mok, AP An elderly couple walk to a polling station in Ramsgate. Hannah McKay, EPA Fullscreen Democratic Unionist Party candidates Jonathan Bell, left, Northern Ireland First Minister and party leader Peter Robinson and Gavin Robinson meet on May 6 in Belfast. Candidates are on their final day of campaigning in an election that could yield no clear winner. Voters go to the polls on May 7. Charles McQuillan, Getty Images A betting shop window is plastered with displays for the general election in Govan, Scotland. Scott Heppell, AP British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron, left, lays bricks during a visit to a home building site in Lancaster, England. Pool photo by Toby Melville A family passes a defaced Conservative Party campaign poster featuring an image of Alex Salmond in Colne. Oli Scarff, AFP/Getty Images The children of Labour Party supporters wait for Ed Miliband to speak at The Muni Theatre. Pool photo by Oli Scarff Labour Party leader Ed Miliband speaks at a campaign rally at the Muni Theatre in Colne. Dan Kitwood, Getty Images Workers load ballot boxes in Glasgow, Scotland.

Mark Runnacles, Getty Images Polly Billington, right, a Labour Party candidate, chats with a resident in Tilbury. Rob Stothard, Getty Images Fullscreen A bookmaker displays the latest odds on the result of the upcoming United Kingdom general election outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on May 6, 2015. Britain's political leaders campaigned for the most unpredictable election in living memory which could yield no clear winner and weeks of haggling over the next government. Leon Neal, AFP/Getty Images Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, attends a campaign rally in Edinburgh. Andy Buchanan, AFP/Getty Images Ross Clement, left, and polling manager Scott Russel deliver ballot boxes and a sign to a polling station on The Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Andy Buchanan, AFP/Getty Images Green Party candidate Darren Hall, left, and party leader Natalie Bennett pose for a photograph in a bicycle rickshaw in Bristol. Matt Cardy, Getty Images Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, center, leaves after campaigning in Ramsgate. Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images Liberal Democrat Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg waves goodbye to children after his visit to Westerton Nursery in Bearsden, Scotland.

Steve Parsons, AP Like this topic? You may also like these photo galleries: Replay David Cameron's son Ivan dies | Politics | The Guardian David Cameron David Cameron's son Ivan dies Ivan, who had severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy, was taken ill overnight and died in hospital this morning David Cameron holds his son, Ivan, in 2008. Photograph: Tom Stoddart/Getty Images Wednesday 25 February 2009 11.13 EST First published on Wednesday 25 February 2009 11.13 EST Close This article is 7 years old David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, thanked well-wishers today for their messages of support following the death of their son, Ivan. The six-year-old, who was severely disabled, was taken ill overnight and died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, early this morning.

A statement posted on the Conservative party's website said: "David and Samantha are grateful for all the warm messages of support and condolence that they have received." The couple asked anyone considering sending flowers to instead make a donation to one of five charities: Mencap, Friends of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, Friends of Jack Tizard School, Helen & Douglas House, Twickenham, and Shooting Star children's hospice. Prime minister's question time was cancelled this afternoon, and Brown and other senior politicians instead offered their condolences in the Commons chamber. "I know that the whole house will want to express their sorrow at the death of Ivan Cameron," Brown told MPs. "He brought joy to all those around him. Every child is precious and irreplaceable. The death of a child is an unbearable sorrow no parents should have to endure." The Browns' first child, Jennifer Jane, was born prematurely in late 2001 and died after 10 days. They have since had two sons, Fraser, who has cystic fibrosis, and John. For the Tories, William Hague, who spoke to Cameron before making his statement, said: "Ivan's six years of life were not easy ones.

"His parents lived with the knowledge for a long time that he could die young but this has made their loss no less heartbreaking … He will always be their beautiful boy." The Camerons were "hugely grateful" to the NHS care workers who "not only did their utmost for their son this morning but have helped every day since he was born", he said. The birth of Ivan in 2002 had a profound effect on Cameron. The Tory leader has admitted that learning about his son's illness hit him "like a freight train", but his friends believe the experience of caring for Ivan gave him a much deeper understanding of the difficulties faced by people with a less sheltered upbringing. Ivan needed care at night, and Cameron and his wife often took turns sleeping in his room. He also needed constant visits to hospital, and Cameron's passionate commitment to the NHS – which has marked him out from other Tory leaders – was largely influenced by the contact he has had with his son's carers. The Camerons had to adapt their west London home to accommodate Ivan, who needed a lift to get in and out of his bath.

Like Tony Blair, but unlike Brown, Cameron has always been keen to talk about his children and to be photographed with them. Ivan was not able to talk, but Cameron spoke with obvious delight about the pleasure he got from seeing his son smile at him. The Camerons also have a daughter, Nancy, five, and another son, three-year-old Arthur. Although the Camerons have had "scares" in the past when Ivan's condition has been particularly bad – at one stage last year Cameron had to cancel a party visit because Ivan was in hospital – the family had had no warning that his life was in danger until he was suddenly taken ill. It is understood Cameron and his wife were both with Ivan when he died. A party spokesman said: "They had no particular warning that this tragedy was going to happen. Ivan had a bad night, but he's had bad nights before. "They got him to hospital. But he did not pull through." The spokesman said the mood in Conservative headquarters was very sombre. "People are very, very upset," he added. "They knew that David cared for Ivan very, very deeply.

David brought him to Westminster occasionally and lots of his staff had met him." The Tory leader has postponed a planned appearance with Lady Thatcher at 10 Downing Street this evening for the unveiling of a new portrait of her, and party officials said he might cancel public engagements for the next two weeks. The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, whose wife gave birth to their third son at the weekend, said: "My heart goes out to David and Samantha at this incredibly difficult time for them and their family." Asked about the suspension of today's question time, Brown's spokesman said: "The prime minister's view is that he wanted to consult the opposition parties and listen to their views and agree to a sensible way forward which marks the very difficult day it is going to be for everybody at Westminster." Prime minister's questions was last cancelled was in 2000, when debate on a controversial bill ran overnight into the morning, and before that in 1994, on the day John Smith, the then Labour leader, died. Condolences pour in for Cameron family after death of Ivan Published: 25 Feb 2009 Michael White: Does the death of David Cameron's son have any ramification for the public domain?

A little, I think. Indeed, it already has done Published: 25 Feb 2009 Tory leader has spoken of changing views on NHS Published: 25 Feb 2009 The Tory leader has frequently referred to Ivan in speeches, and to the importance of the NHS to his family because of the care his son received from birth. These are some of his comments Published: 25 Feb 2009 David Cameron says being PM 'the greatest honour' in final Downing Street speech - BBC News BBC News David Cameron says being PM 'the greatest honour' in final Downing Street speech 13 July 2016 From the section UK Politics comments Close share panel Media captionDavid Cameron left Downing Street for the final time with his family by his side David Cameron said being prime minister had been "the greatest honour" of his life as he prepared to formally resign. Flanked by his wife and children in Downing Street, he said the UK was "much stronger" than when he took over. He then went to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to the Queen, who has now formally appointed Theresa May as his replacement.

Earlier Mr Cameron took PMQs for the final time, telling MPs he would "miss the roar of the crowd". After taking office, Mrs May, the home secretary, will set about naming her own frontbench team. David Cameron's premiership in nine charts Before driving to Buckingham Palace, Mr Cameron spoke outside No 10, saying he had "not got every decision right" but adding: "I do believe that today, our country is much stronger." "Politicians like to talk about policies, but in the end it's about people's lives," he said, pointing to the government's record on employment, the NHS and defence. He wished Mrs May well, saying she would provide "strong and stable leadership", and paid tribute to his wife Samantha and his children. As the family left for the final time, he said his only wish was "continued success for this great country that I love so very much". A statement from Buckingham Palace confirmed he had tendered his resignation as prime minister and the Queen was "graciously pleased" to accept.

Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Cameron addressed the world's media outside No 10 Image copyright PA Image caption He was joined by wife Samantha and their children Nancy, Florence and Arthur Elwen Image copyright PA Image caption As they left Downing Street, Mr Cameron wished the UK "every success" Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Cameron made the short drive to Buckingham Palace to formally resign as PM Image copyright PA Image caption Theresa May was appointed as Mr Cameron's replacement Media captionTributes to David Cameron at final Prime Minister's Questions In the Commons, Conservative MPs rose as one to applaud Mr Cameron at the end of his 182nd PMQs session as prime minister, as did former Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Labour MPs also joined in with the clapping, including leader Jeremy Corbyn. Mr Cameron told his MPs that he intended to stay in public life and would be "willing them on", saying "nothing is impossible".

In his final remarks, he reprised a comment he made to Tony Blair during his first PMQs as opposition leader in 2005, saying: "I was the future once." Image copyright AFP Image caption The prime minister paid tribute to his successor, describing her as a "hard negotiator" Image caption David Cameron's family were in the House of Commons for his last appearance - this is an aerial shot of them returning to Downing Street Image copyright Reuters Image caption Theresa May will become the UK's second female prime minister later on Wednesday During a generally light-hearted and jocular session of Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Cameron said he had clocked up 5,500 questions at the dispatch box, joking that he would leave it to others to decide how many he has answered. He dismissed suggestions he will look to take over as the host of Top Gear or England manager, joking they "sound even harder" than being PM. He also stressed his love for Larry the Downing Street cat - amid rumours that he was not a fan - a point he later emphasised on Twitter and swapped warm wishes with Jeremy Corbyn, saying he had almost come to admire the Labour leader's "tenacity" in hanging on to his job.

'Amazing moments' Defending his economic, social and foreign affairs achievements, Mr Cameron said there had been "many amazing moments" over the past six years of "public service in the national interest". Media captionLeaving Downing Street: How previous PMs have come and gone Mr Cameron "warmly congratulated" Theresa May, who sat next to him during the session, on her election and told Mr Corbyn that "when it came to female prime ministers I am pleased to say pretty soon it is going be two-nil". Katya Adler: Brussels waits for May's move Mr Corbyn said that although he had often disagreed with the PM, he thanked him for his service over the last six years and praised him for his backing for equal marriage and his efforts to secure the release of Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo Bay. The Labour leader also paid tribute to Mr Cameron's wife Samantha and his family, who watched the proceedings from the public gallery. His daughters Nancy and Florence were seen to give their father a wave and cheer him on during the session.

Earlier, Mr Cameron told the Telegraph he came into Downing Street to "lead people through difficult decisions so together we could reach better times", adding "as I leave today, I hope people will see a stronger country, a thriving economy, and more chances to get on in life." Later, after saying goodbye to staff at Downing Street, the PM will tender his resignation to the Queen, Royal audience The BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said the private audience was likely to be a short one, potentially about 20 minutes. Soon after, Mrs May will then make her own way to Buckingham Palace, accompanied by her husband Philip, when she will be asked to accept the monarch's offer to form a new government. Media captionMark Easton looks back at the Cameron years Our correspondent said Queen Elizabeth was likely to ask the new PM, who will be the 13th leader of her reign, about her "intentions and programme" for government. Mrs May, who at 59 becomes the oldest incoming prime minister since Jim Callaghan in 1976, will then return to No 10 as the country's second female prime minister, following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher.

She is expected to briefly address the nation before meeting top officials, including Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heyward, and receiving a full national security and defence briefing. She will be asked to hand-write letters to the commanders of the UK's four Trident submarines about what to do in the event of a catastrophic nuclear attack on the UK and to appoint two nuclear "deputies" - ministers who will take decisions on the deterrent if she has been rendered incapable. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The world's media is camped out in Downing Street as the handover of power nears Image copyright PA Image caption The Camerons are thought likely to head to their Oxfordshire home after leaving Downing Street Image copyright AFP Image caption While Theresa May and her husband will soon swap their Berkshire home for Downing Street Image copyright PA Image caption Amber Rudd is among a number of female politicians expected to be promoted by Theresa May She is also expected to take calls from a number of foreign leaders. Later on Wednesday, she will get down to the work of putting together her government - with key appointments set to be announced within hours. The current home secretary was the only remaining candidate in the Tory leadership contest following Andrea Leadsom's withdrawal on Monday.

The contest began when Mr Cameron, who has been prime minister since 2010, announced he would step down after losing the EU referendum in June. Removal vans were spotted outside Downing Street on Tuesday, as Mr Cameron's ministers paid tribute to him in his final cabinet meeting. 'Day job' Former Culture Secretary Maria Miller rejected suggestions that Mr Cameron's legacy would be totally defined by the decision to leave the EU, saying that while this seemed "a very big part of the political bubble" now, other achievements would endure. She told Sky News the prime minister has "championed gay marriage and social justice while putting the Conservative Party in the centre ground" of politics and leaving behind a "strong economic foundation" to cope with the uncertainty caused by Brexit. The swift transition of power comes after the expected nine-week leadership campaign was truncated to just a couple of days by leading Brexit campaigner Andrea Leadsom's surprise withdrawal. Mrs May, who backed a vote to remain in the EU, will unveil her full ministerial team over the next couple of days, with the focus on the key positions of chancellor and foreign secretary as well who will be put in charge of leading the Brexit negotiations.

She is expected to promote a number of women to senior positions, with International Development Secretary Justine Greening and Energy Secretary Amber Rudd among those likely to get upward moves. Asked her about her prospects, Ms Rudd told reporters: "I haven't been told anything yet so I'm just going to get on with my day job". BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Profile: Samantha Cameron Profile: Samantha Cameron By Jackie Storer BBC News political reporter Samantha Cameron, wife of new Tory leader David, was widely said by the newspapers to have brought some much-needed "glamour" to the 2005 annual party conference in Blackpool. A tap on the tummy sent Tory hearts aflutter At 34 she was not only younger than the other contenders' consorts, but also appeared self-assured as she posed, in elegant yet casual clothes, on the stage by her husband's side. He had just delivered a note-free speech which many observers believe led him on the road to leadership victory. His gentle pat of her then pregnant stomach brought a warm glow to a party faithful desperate for that touch of pizzazz which would reverse Tory fortunes and make them electable again.

Unlike some political wives Mrs Cameron has a career of her own, as a director of Bond Street stationery firm Smythson. She also boasts some interesting street cred. Press attention has focused on her friendship with hip hop star "Tricky" during her days at university in Bristol - and the fact her ankle is adorned with a dolphin tattoo. Ancestral home She was a teenager when she was introduced to David Cameron by her best friend Clare, his younger sister. The couple dated while she was an arts student and married in 1996. Three years ago their first child, Ivan, was born severely disabled and needs round-the-clock care. Samantha is thought to be related to Nell Gwyn, Charles II's mistress The Camerons went on to have a daughter Nancy, two, and a third child, a boy, on 14 February, 2006. The family divides its time between homes in North Kensington and Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.

Newspaper diarists picked up on her apparent comment during the party conference that she was brought up near Scunthorpe - and enjoyed pointing out that that rather understated the fact it was actually on her father Sir Reginald Sheffield's 300-acre Normanby Hall estate, which has been in the family since 1590. Ancestors of the Old Etonian Lincolnshire landowner are said to include a Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Henry VIII. Her mother is Annabel Jones, who owned the Beauchamp Place jewellery shop. She is now managing director of Oka interior design and lighting shops. Mrs Cameron's parents split up after five years of marriage and her mother wed again to Old Etonian, Viscount Astor, a minister in John Major's government. Comparing consorts Research on Mrs Cameron's family tree by Cracroft's Peerage suggests that Nell Gwyn, the mistress of Charles II, is her great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother. Unlike Cherie Blair, the prime minister's wife, Mrs Cameron appears to have no obvious political ambitions.

Mrs Blair has always been an active supporter of the Labour Party and fought and lost the no-hope seat of Thanet North in Kent at the 1983 general election. She is also a high profile QC and part-time judge and has been accused of "cashing in" on her position as prime minister's wife with lectures on life inside Downing Street. Unlike in the US where the president's wife is known as the "First Lady", there is no official role for the spouse of a UK prime minister. David Cameron to quit as Prime Minister - CNNPolitics.com MUST WATCH British PM announces resignation 03:02 Though Cameron said he would remain in charge until a new leader is appointed in early October, he pledged to try to "steady the ship" over the coming months before handing over responsibility. Failure? It's a huge blow to Cameron, who led the Conservative Party to victory in the 2015 general election and saw off the threat of Scottish independence a year before that. But his decision to attempt to solve party infighting and see off the threat of the United Kingdom Independence Party by offering a referendum on membership of the EU if he won the general election has proved fatal to his reign.

Cameron's name will no doubt be cast by some alongside the likes of Neville Chamberlain and Anthony Eden, former prime ministers whose careers were defined by failure. JUST WATCHED MUST WATCH Brexit: How did it happen? 01:09 Cameron had been regarded as a lucky politician by some of his closest colleagues but that luck ran out as the "Leave" campaign won 51.9% of the vote to win by 1,269.501 votes, with turnout at 72% . He'll now be left to watch on as rivals make a claim for his job, with Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, the current favorite. Clearly emotional, Cameron, with his wife Samantha by his side, ran through his achievements, including the introduction of gay marriage and progress with the country's economy. So what happens now? "I fought this campaign in the only way I know how, which is to say directly and passionately, what I think and feel -- head, heart and soul. "I held nothing back, I was absolutely clear about my belief that Britain is stronger, safer and better off inside the European Union and I made clear the referendum was about this and this alone -- not the future of any single politician including myself.

JUST WATCHED MUST WATCH Brexit's on: What happens now? 01:13 "But the British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path and as such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction. "I will do everything I can as prime minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months but I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination. "This is not a decision I've taken lightly but I do believe it's in the national interest to have a period of stability and then the new leadership required." Party infighting But all of those points will be washed away by the enormity of this result -- a result that has changed the landscape of British politics forever. Cameron's undoing was that he believed the constant infighting within the Conservative Party over Europe had to be resolved -- but the calling of a referendum was an unnecessary gamble.

JUST WATCHED MUST WATCH The UK votes to leave the EU in 90 seconds 01:32 He attempted to use the economy to persuade voters that remaining in Europe would be best for Britain -- but "Project Fear" as it was dubbed by his opponent, failed to resonate with a divided country. He resignation was perhaps inevitable -- a man who said that leaving the EU would be like "putting a bomb under our economy" was never going to be able to negotiate the country's exit. In the end, Cameron's gamble, one that he had been warned against, failed to come off, as CNN's Max Foster summed up from Downing Street. "We thought he would reassure the markets but obviously the pressure was so high that he had to come out with another solution and he fell on his sword. An extraordinary day here. "What this country doesn't need right now is more political instability on top of the market turmoil," Foster said.

David Cameron rules out third term as PM and reveals favourites for next Tory leader | The Independent David Cameron rules out third term as PM and reveals favourites for next Tory leader Labour called the announcement 'presumptuous and arrogant' Monday 23 March 2015 18:39 BST Click to follow Indy Politics David Cameron has said he does not wish to serve a third term Getty David Cameron has said he would not serve a third term as prime minister if the Conservatives remain in power after the May general election. In a BBC interview on Monday night, Mr Cameron said: “I’ve said I’ll stand for a full second term, but I think after that it will be time for new leadership. Terms are like Shredded Wheat – two are wonderful but three might just be too many.” There has been growing speculation among Conservative MPs that Mr Cameron might quit after the in/out EU referendum he has promised in 2017, but the public statement of his intention not to serve a third term surprised Westminster. The comments appeared intended to dispel any impression that he would go “on and on” as prime minister.

But they risk firing an early starting gun on the race to succeed him – and may make it difficult for Mr Cameron to retain his personal authority in the latter stages of the next parliament, if the Tories are returned to power on 7 May. 2014 Right-Wing Power List - Top 25 2014 Right-Wing Power List - Top 25 1/22 1. Nigel Farage A still from the Paddy Power advertisement 2/22 3. George Osborne On 30 September, at the Tory conference in Birmingham, the Enterprise Forum hosted an invitation-only reception with the CBI and George Osborne Getty Boris Johnson argued that he could perform both roles as MP and Mayor AFP/Getty Images 4/22 5. Lynton Crosby Lynton Crosby has told ministers to stop announcing minor policies which distract from the party's core messages Tal Cohen/Rex Features Home Secretary Theresa May will outline plans to curb extremists’ freedom of speech (Getty) Getty 6/22 7.

Philip Hammond Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says the killing of James Foley is an "utter betrayal of our country, our values and everything the British people stand for" Getty Baroness Warsi described Culture Secretary Sajid Javid as ‘the only non-white person’ in the Cabinet Getty Samantha Cameron: a high-flyer with a wealthy background Getty Images Durham Free School had earlier been praised in the Commons by Mr Gove Getty Images Grant Shapps was mocked over the ‘beer and bingo’ ad 15/22 16. Edward Llewellyn Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary Rex 17/22 18. Iain Duncan Smith Iain Duncan Smith New education Secretary Nicky Morgan Getty 19/22 20. Eric Pickles Eric Pickles is often to be seen down at the RSPB’s Rainham Marshes nature reserve in Kent Getty Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office EPA Patrick Mcloughlin is considering using taxpayers' money to build homes around the HS2 line Getty Images Mr Cameron said he felt his job was “half done” with the economy “turned round” and that he wanted to “finish the job” of education and welfare reform.

But he added: “There definitely comes a time where a fresh pair of eyes and fresh leadership would be good, and the Conservative Party has got some great people coming up – the Theresa Mays, and the George Osbornes, and the Boris Johnsons. There’s plenty of talent there. I’m surrounded by very good people.” Mr Cameron’s decision to name-check Mr Osborne is significant. Allies of the Chancellor have played down reports that he does not see himself as a future leader following a rise in his personal ratings. Mr Johnson responded to his own mention by saying people were ‘‘making a fuss about nothing”. George Osborne and Theresa May have been tipped by Mr Cameron as possible successors (Getty) Sources close to Mr Cameron said that he was ruling out serving a third term – which would keep him in Downing Street until 2025 – but had not made any decision on whether he would fight an election in 2020 or hand over to a successor before the poll. Mr Johnson played the comments down as “people making a fuss about nothing” and described the future leader as “a babe unborn”.

Labour accused Mr Cameron of being “presumptuous and arrogant.” Douglas Alexander, chairman of Labour’s election strategy, said: “The Tories are taking the British public for granted. It is typically arrogant of David Cameron to presume a third Tory term in 2020 before the British public have been given the chance to have their say in this election. It is for the British people and not the prime minister to decide who stays in power.” He added: “Instead of focusing on themselves, it is time we had a government focused on the needs of working families.” Speaking about possible departure dates is a minefield. Margaret Thatcher was criticised for saying she intended to “go on and on” and was ousted by her party in 1990, three years after winning her third election. Tony Blair ruled out seeking a fourth term ahead of the 2005 election, fuelling speculation about his successor. He came under intense pressure from allies of Gordon Brown to stand down in 2007, a year earlier than he intended. In the interview, Mr Cameron admitted that being seen as posh had made it easier for his opponents to brand the Conservatives as a party of the rich.

He described his wife Samantha as his “sanity check” during the election campaign. He revealed that his eldest daughter, Nancy, was campaigning to get Jeremy Clarkson reinstated as the presenter of Top Gear. Mr Clarkson is a neighbour in Mr Cameron’s Oxfordshire constituency. The Prime Minister joked: “Nancy has threatened to go on hunger strike unless Jeremy Clarkson is restored. I told her this is not necessarily a useful intervention. It is not exactly Gandhi.”

Question: What is the given name of the wife of Conservative leader David Cameron?
Answer: Samantha