John McCain on David Cameron

In this exclusive interview, the Republican presidential front-runner tells Matthew d’Ancona why he is speaking at the Conservative conference, and says that Cameron has the youth, exuberance and determination to be a Tory JFK

David Cameron was only one year and 17 days old on 26 October 1967, when John McCain was shot down in his A4 aircraft over Hanoi and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese. Almost four decades later, the two politicians have been brought together by a shared ambition to govern their respective countries — frontrunners to be prime minister and president — and a shared conservative purpose. Capitol Hill is making common cause with Notting Hill.

I am in the office of Senator McCain of Arizona on the eve of his visit to the Conservative conference in Bournemouth. Having given George W. Bush a serious fright in the 2000 presidential primaries, he is expected to run again in two years’ time, and heads the pack of those vying for the Republican nomination.