A son who inspired only goodness and love

25 February 2009

Matthew d’Ancona reflects on the death of Ivan Cameron and the transformative impact this little boy had upon the man who will probably be our next Prime Minister

When people ask me about David Cameron’s character, and what sort of man he is, I always cite a very clear memory I have of sitting in the Commons with him in late 2003. He had been tasked by the then Tory leader, Michael Howard, to prepare the opposition’s response to the Hutton Report on the death of Dr David Kelly — a massive forensic undertaking, as well as a thorny political challenge. It was a mark of Howard’s confidence in the young man who was to be his successor that he assigned this task to him, and not to a Commons veteran.

As we chatted about the Iraq dossier and the Kelly affair, Cameron’s phone rang repeatedly. It was his wife, Samantha, at the hospital yet again with their firstborn, Ivan, then little more than a year old. I was touched and impressed by the gentleness in his tone and the strength that it conveyed. One minute we would be discussing the notorious claim that Saddam could launch weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes — the next he would be speaking softly to his understandably anxious wife about who would be staying overnight at the hospital and what arrangements they should make so that both of them could get a hot meal.

What struck me was that, for all his ambition and steely political focus, Cameron revealed himself as a man who understood what truly counted in life. In the two decades in which I have known him, he has always been a political obsessive, cheerfully open about his desire to clamber the greasy pole. Even in his early days as a junior political researcher he was marked out by his peers as a future party leader. Yet that day at the Commons, as he spoke quietly to his wife about their beloved and ailing child, it was clear that his priorities were spot on. Nothing mattered more: not politics, not the media, not his gilded career. He was and is a family man first, last and always: not in the clichéd sense that is part of political posturing, but in the authentic sense that family has truly defined him as a person, shaping his character and his deepest hopes.

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Andreas

February 26th, 2009 2:22pm Report this comment

I know it has been said before, but still, no one should have to bury their child.

Really sad.

Paul B

February 26th, 2009 4:50pm Report this comment

Eric Clapton said it best.

Tears in Heaven

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven

Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven
I'll find my way, through night and day
Cause I know I just can't stay
Here in heaven

Time can bring you down
Time can bend your knee
Time can break your heart
Have you begging please
Begging please

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_Heaven

(instrumental)

Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure.
And I know there'll be no more...
Tears in heaven

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven

Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven

Barry, Poole.

February 26th, 2009 5:27pm Report this comment

I only recently discovered this site and was really impressed. I agree with most of what's said here. After reading this mawkish, brownnosing drivel I have decided to remove the link from my favorites. This is a sad but private matter. Using this childs death as propaganda for your beloved party leader is absolutely revolting. Goodbye.

Sue Hicks

February 27th, 2009 1:46pm Report this comment

Great article - ruined by forgetting in the penultimate line that he has two parents - why does someone always have to be prime in a man's world

Ben T (Australia)

February 28th, 2009 10:19pm Report this comment

Re: Little Ivan. To Quote Oscar Wilde: "One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing."

Graham

February 28th, 2009 10:54pm Report this comment

'progressive Conservatism' - who the hell would want to vote for that? Sounds like a wishy washy nothingness to me while you all wait for your doomsday in comfy slippers and a head tilt. You need another Thatcher or good-bye.

Estelle Shields

March 1st, 2009 2:09am Report this comment

To be predeceased by a child is the most ghastly thing that can befall a parent, the gravest disruption of the natural order and a form of pain that can scarcely be imagined by others. The author is not the parent of a disabled child. The most ghastly and unimaginable pain that can befall a parent is predeceasing a disabled (usually adult) child and leaving him/her to cope alone in a service system without a place, in a country that couldn't care less. I live in Australia.

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