In the wake of the last vote by MPs on the matter, David Cameron and David Davis have emerged as the final pair who will fight for the leadership of the United Kingdom's Conservative Party. Party members will get their ballots next month, and the winner will be announced on December 6.
Today's vote among the MPs was 90 for Cameron (up 34 from Tuesday), 57 for Davis (down five from Tuesday) and 51 for Dr. Liam Fox (up 9 from Tuesday). Dr. Fox was eliminated from the competition in this round.
Cameron, 39, has a big lead on Davis in the opinion polls, so it seems likely that in 7 weeks his meteoric rise to the top of the party leadership will be complete - and it seems entirely possible that he'll be the most popular Conservative leader that Prime Minister Blair has had to face since he was elected in 1997.
Posted by armand at October 20, 2005 02:08 PM | TrackBack | Posted to International AffairsHello:
I've been reading around the blog for too long without actually comenting. Thoroughly enjoy all your work.
I've also been following the Conservative party leadership contest with interest. Timothy Garton Ash in today's Guardian online (http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1596217,00.html ) draws parallels between Cameron and Blair, making particular note of Blair's infamous rhetorical style. Sample:
Take that inspiring Conservative party conference speech with which David Cameron launched himself like a rocket from Cape Canaveral. I've spent a fair bit of time over the past few years reading Blair speeches. They have an unmistakeable look on the page:
Very short sentences.
Large gaps between each line.
I care passionately about this. We must do that.
Self-deprecating joke. Guy-on-the-street anecdote.
List of past failures. Visions of future success! Sentences without verbs.
So there's concern among the Labour party that the next election will be between their own tough hewn but unphotogenic Brown, and the perfectly spun Cameron, who has clearly studied Blair's successes.
Same article has a sly aside about a "spliff with added ambition" and a "future foreign leader".
Posted by: Kaiser at October 20, 2005 05:25 PM | PERMALINKThanks for the tip. From what I've seen this is a classic interpretation of Cameron and his (extremely successful, at least so far) style. The similarities to Blair really are striking.
Posted by: Armand at October 21, 2005 10:09 AM | PERMALINK