Cameron shows compassionate side in Tory conference speech

David Cameron aimed to show the compassionate side of the Tory party during an annual Conservative conference on Wednesday, 10^th October.

Speaking for 50 minutes behind a lectern, Cameron insisted: “My mission from the day I became leader was … to show the Conservative party is for everyone, north or south, black or white, straight or gay.”

Cameron wanted to challenge the conception that the Conservative party is more elitist than Labour. 

In his speech, he peddled his flagship policy of creating a “big society” where more power is held by the people rather than the state. 

Cameron argued that on welfare, crime and Britain’s relationship with Europe, the majority of people side on the right, and not on the left. 

As opposed to Ed Miliband’s “one nation” Labour, he spoke about creating an “aspiration nation” of “doers” with a focus on ambitious individuals.

After Ed Miliband recently spoke publicly about his working-class beginnings, Cameron too felt inclined to mention his past. 

He said that despite being financially comfortable, his family had struggled as his father suffered from a stigmatising disability of deformed legs.

The speech contained optimism for the future with a glowing mention of the success of the summer Olympics that brought the country together. 

However, after the IMF (International Monetary Fund) issued another downgrade of UK growth forecasts on Tuesday, Cameron issued a stark warning: “Unless we act, unless we take difficult decisions, unless we show determination and imagination, Britain may not be the force which it has been in the past. The truth is this: we are in a global race today and that means an hour of reckoning for a country like ours – sink or swim, do or die.”

In a recent opinion poll performed for the Independent by ComRes, 39% of people thought Cameron “has what it takes to be a good prime minister” in contrast to only 22% for rival Miliband. 

Aimee Latimer