Cameron’s new army of Tory loyalists

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[/audioplayer]Time was when the Conservatives believed that a small majority — which puts a government at the mercy of backbench rebels — would be worse than no majority at all. They dreaded the prospect. But now, well into their third month celebrating a majority of just 12 seats, it’s clear they’ve forgotten their fears about how precarious things could be. They talk as if they can now do anything — including implementing their manifesto in its entirety.

It won’t take long for David Cameron to discover the truth. In any controversial vote, people will rebel — it takes just seven of his 331 MPs to bring defeat. The Prime Minister worried about this before the election because he knew what his Commons colleagues could be like: independent-minded at the best of times, downright sadistic at worst and desperate to humiliate their leader. Now he has 74 new MPs among those old troublemakers. But can he rely on them?

I’ve got to know the 2015 intake of Conservative MPs over the past few months, and I’ve been struck by just how keen they are to show their gratitude to Cameron. No one expected the Tories to win the election, but many of the new MPs didn’t even expect to win their own seats. Some of the most memorable images of the general election were of the giddy astonishment of Andrea Jenkyns, who beat Ed Balls in Morley and Outwood, and Tania Mathias, who crushed Vince Cable in Twickenham. Less well-known, but equally surprised, are the 25 other Conservative MPs who took seats from Lib Dems.

The double whammy of getting elected without expecting it and into a majority government means that the new MPs are mostly fully paid-up members of the David Cameron fan club.