David Cameron’s accession to power around 8 o’clock last night could not have been more different from Tony Blair’s thirteen years previously.
I remember, as a candidate who had experienced my own small share of the Tory pain in the face of the Labour landslide, watching Blair swagger into a Downing Street thronged with apparent well-wishers, but actually Labour staffers, giving transatlantic-style double handshakes, his eyes brimming with tears of faux emotion (or possibly genuine – it wasn’t always possible to tell with Blair).
I was fascinated, but also repelled, by the scene, and not just because I was a Tory and Labour were taking over the reins of power. It was all so stage managed, so forced, so ersatz.
Yesterday, Cameron struck a different note. There was no lap of honour, no blubbing, no high fives. The car drew into Downing Street and the new Prime Minister stepped out, to deliver a speech that was brief, businesslike and devoid of triumphalism.
He spoke of the difficult decisions that lie ahead; of the need for Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to put aside political differences and work together for the national good; of his determination to restore trust in politics and politicians; of the duty of Government to protect the old, the frail and the poor.
Cameron knew that he was inheriting possibly the most difficult economic, social and constitutional conditions the country has faced since the end of the war. He has a tough job to do.
There is no time for nonsense.
