Cameron’s great escape

The last time David Cameron sat down with The Spectator for an interview, he was on a train and looking rather worried. There were just weeks to go until the general election and the polls were not moving. At the time, almost no one — and certainly not him — imagined that he was on the cusp of a historic election victory that would not just sweep the Tories to power but send Labour into an abyss. This time, we meet on another train. But he’s far more relaxed, reflecting on winning The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year award and recalling how election night brought him some of the ‘happiest hours’ of his life.

These occurred in the men’s changing room at Witney Leisure Centre. ‘They gave me a room to sit in with my tea and the television,’ he recalls. ‘There were like six of us sitting there, surrounded by smelly socks and changing lockers. And seat after seat coming through — Twickenham, and all that sort of stuff, happening.’ It soon became clear that he would not need the concession speech he had practised a few hours earlier. ‘You have to be ready for anything,’ he said. ‘It’s a good reminder about democracy. Voters can tell you to carry on, or chuck you out. You’ve got to be ready for both.’

So once again, David Cameron executed a great escape. He’s getting rather good at them; in 2007, it looked as if Gordon Brown was set to call an election and crush the Tories. Even now, Cameron talks about how Peter Brookes depicted his predicament in The Spectator’scover illustration (above): ‘You put my head in a noose!’ But he kept his calm and prevailed.

This year, what Cameron did in drafting his concession speech during those uncertain hours on polling day provides an insight into his character.