Howard's End: Cameron new Leader of Conservative Party

The election of David Cameron as the new leader of the Conservative Party marks the end of the leadership of Folkestone and Hythe MP Michael Howard. Commenting, Simon Hughes MP, Liberal Democrat President, said:

"We obviously congratulate David Cameron on his election, but he is now the fourth Tory leader in just four years. The Conservatives' problem is not their salesman - it's their product.

"Mr Cameron has yet to set out many detailed policy initiatives but we do know he wrote the Conservative manifesto for the 2005 general Election.

"We know he is a convinced anti-European, a keen supporter of tuition fees and is likely to back the Government on nuclear power. If that is the definition of modern Conservatism, they will continue to struggle to emerge from the political wilderness."

The challenge facing David Cameron is stark - in the Tories have simply ceased to exist in large parts of the country. In many areas, particularly in urban municipal centres, the Liberal Democrats are the main opposition to Labour. The Conservatives only have one city seat outside of London (Sutton Coldfield).

In contrast, on May 5th, the Lib Dems picked up seats in Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham and Cardiff. The Lib Dems also secured very substantial swings (in excess of 10%) in Bradford, Glasgow, Derby, Newcastle and Durham. Michael Howard correctly identified the need for the Tories to re-establish themselves in the cities - but they have completely failed to do so.

Despite the Conservatives receiving enormous media publicity during the last few months, the latest opinion polls from the major pollsters are:

• Populus CON 30: LAB 40: LD 21
• YouGov CON 32: LAB 40: LD 20
• MORI CON 29: LAB 39: LD 25
• ICM CON 31: LAB 40: LD 21