A small majority means big challenges

In ancient Rome, when a general rode in triumph through the city, a slave would stand behind him whispering into his ear, ‘Remember you are mortal.’ Today, there is no shortage of people volunteering to make the same point to David Cameron.

First, there are Tory backbenchers with long-standing grudges who are already making clear their desire to cause trouble. David Davis, the man Cameron defeated in the leadership contest a decade ago, didn’t even wait to be sworn in again as an MP before he started warning of rows to come over plans set out in the Tory manifesto to limit the powers of the European Court of Human Rights. Then, there are the commentators who are keen to say that this is a rerun of 1992, and that once again a Tory prime minister with a small majority will be tortured by his Eurosceptic rebels.

But unlike most victorious generals Cameron has avoided being overly triumphalist.