Advantage Cameron

Just back from David Cameron’s press conference. It was a Blair-style “beat the goalie” session, with journalists invited to ask him nasty questions until they were exhausted. And, like Blair, he walked away unscathed. As ever, I have gripes: he’s still using the meaningless phrase “Social Responsibility” to sum up what his Conservatism is about. But compare his performance to Gordon Brown’s last week. Cameron answered each question in an interesting and attention-holding way: Brown lost his audience by descending into cliché and platitudes each time. Cameron called each journalist by name: Brown had Jack Straw asking “is there anyone here from the Daily Mail”.

The Cameron operation is smoother and sharper – he has the presentational qualities Blair has taught this county to take for granted. When Blair is gone, Cameron will have the floor to himself.