David Cameron

David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who is the current leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition. He is the son of a stockbroker and attended Eton College and Brasenose College, Oxford; he worked as an assistant to senior Cabinet ministers (including Norman Lamont) during the Major government, and then as Director of Corporate Affairs for Carlton Communications before he became MP for Witney in 2001.

Sourced

• I am the heir to Blair.
  • Andrew Pierce, "Horror as Cameron brandishes the B-word", The Times, 5 October 2005, p. 9.
  • Remarks to newspaper executives, 3 October 2005.

• I joined this party because I believe in freedom. We are the only party believing that if you give people freedom and responsibility, they will grow stronger and society will grow stronger.
  • Speech to Conservative Party Conference on 4 October 2005

• I want you to come with me. We'll be tested, and challenged, but we'll never give up. We'll never turn back. So let the message go out from this conference, a modern compassionate Conservatism is right for our times, right for our party - and right for our country. If we go for it, if we seize it, if we fight for it with every ounce of passion, vigour and energy from now until the next election, nothing and no one can stop us.
  • Speech to Conservative Party Conference on 4 October 2005

• I think it was right to remove Saddam Hussein. I think it was the right decision then and I still think it was right now.
  • BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, 21 October 2005

• There is such a thing as society. It's just not the same thing as the state.
  • Speech after winning the Conservative Party leadership contest on 6 December 2005

• I want to talk about the future. He was the future once.
  • Addressing Tony Blair at Prime Minister's Question Time on 7 December 2005

• We will reflect the country we aspire to govern, and the sound of modern Britain is a complex harmony, not a male voice choir.
  • Speech aimed at Liberal Democrats: join me in my mission, made on 16 December 2005

• I think the prospect of bringing back grammar schools has always been wrong and I've never supported it. And I don't think any Conservative government would have done it.
  • BBC Sunday AM, 15 January 2006

• I am Conservative to the core of my being, as those who know me best will testify.
  • Daily Telegraph, 23 January 2006

• Issues that once divided Conservatives from Liberal Democrats are now issues where we both agree. Our attitude to devolution and localisation of power. Iraq. The environment. I'm a liberal Conservative.
  • Letter to constituents in Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, 7 February 2006

• Lots of people call me Dave, my mum calls me David, my wife calls me Dave, I don't really notice what people call me.
  • "Labour in shambles over leadership, says Cameron", Western Mail, 29 September 2006, p. 4.
  • Interview with Richard Bacon on XFM, 28 September 2006

• Look at me and think of Schwarzenegger.
  • Chris Ayres, " Look at me, think of Arnie Schwarzenegger – David Cameron talks tough as he heads into the hood", The Times, 13 October 2007.

• When we were first told the extent of Ivan's disability I thought that we would suffer having to care for him but at least he would benefit from our care. Now as I look back I see that it was all the other way round. It was only him that ever really suffered and it was us - Sam, me, Nancy and Elwen - who gained more than I ever believed possible from having and loving such a wonderfully special and beautiful boy.
  • In a letter to activists after the death of his son, 28 February 2009

• Too many twits make a twat.
  • Expressing his views on Twitter during an interview on Absolute radio on 29 July 2009.

About

• An actor who has never had a proper job.
  • Sir Tam Dalyell

• He wants a Bill of Rights for Britain drafted by a Committee of Lawyers. Have you ever tried drafting anything with a Committee of Lawyers?
  • Prime Minister Tony Blair

• There is nothing to him. He is like a hollow Easter egg with no bag of sweets inside.
  • Charlie Brooker

• He struck me as the type of guy who would stand at the back of the dance hall and just move his shoulders. He has got no rhythm. He looked like the kind of guy who would be an embarrassing uncle.
  • George Sampson

Misquotations

• Hug a hoodie.
  • This term derives from the headline "Hug a hoodie, says Cameron" in the News of the World (page 16, 9 July 2006) reporting a speech which Cameron delivered the following day. The term was a paraphrase by the newspaper and Cameron did not use the term in the speech: he did say, referring to the film Kidulthood, "Kidulthood is not about bad kids. Even the villain is clearly suffering from neglect and the absence of love."