Why Labour has a wary regard for David Cameron

The Labour party is uneasy. For 11 years it has made the political weather. It has set the terms of debate; its intellectual totalitarianism has almost succeeded in branding any non-New Labour position as illegitimate. Now, everything has changed. On the underground, in pubs, people are talking about David Cameron. Though he has hardly done or said anything yet, he has reintroduced excitement to British politics. Some shrewd Labour analysts fear that events have escaped from their control and are not sure how to recapture them.

Mr Cameron has been lucky in his timing. He arrived at the moment when a lot of voters were falling out of love with Tony Blair. The simperings, the facile little tricks of speech — the minor faults of character — all the traits which used to arouse affection and a protective instinct now merely exasperate and set teeth on edge. Once that happens, the relationship never recovers.