David Davis is the darling of the Tory right

ConservativeHome conducted a poll into prominent, right-wing Tory backbenchers. Unsurprisingly, David Davis topped the poll. 70 percent of respondents hold that David Davis represents their views and 54 percent believe he articulates those views effectively. John Redwood and Daniel Hannan were some way behind as DD’s closest rivals.

Davis’s chief weapon is communication. Plain speaking and from a working class background, people easily identify with him; and he expresses an acute intelligence in simple terms, something that John Redwood has failed to do. And whilst Hannan has charisma, Davis has more – the fruit of a decade at the forefront of British politics.

Above all, Davis espouses talismanic grass-roots causes: Capital Gains Tax, Civil Liberties, opposing the holding of data with Google and the proposed 55 percent rule. Much of his popularity rests on his open defiance against Cameron’s brand of Conservatism; he is the focal point for disaffection and dissent.