Royal Wedding 2011: 'David Cameron, you're a toff... just get over it!'
David Cameron must be wishing he had taken a leaf out of Kate Middleton’s book and given nothing away about what he was wearing to Friday’s wedding.
For when Downing Street told me last week that the Prime Minister would be wearing a lounge suit to the marriage of the second-in-line to the throne, all hell broke loose.
Cameron was accused of being so nervous about being called a toff that he was prepared to rain on Prince William and Kate Middleton’s parade to protect himself.
One former colleague complained to me that it summed up ‘how they always think that every story is about him. They don’t understand that sometimes blending into the background is what is required’.
Tory MPs asked who the Eton and Oxford-educated Prime Minister thought he was kidding. As they joked, he’d worn the outfit every day at school and to his own wedding.
The more rebellious whispered that it was this lack of authenticity that had cost the Tories a majority at the Election.
He should just be who he is, they argued, rather than always trying to look like Mr Average. Boris Johnson, as I predicted he would, compounded the PM’s problems by declaring that he would definitely be wearing a morning suit.
Cameron loyalists were taken aback by the reaction. After all, few had commented when he had turned up to his own sister’s wedding last year in a lounge suit when most of those present were wearing a morning suit.
Those who know the PM best stressed how seriously he takes the institution of marriage. Even in his busiest periods, he takes the time to write long letters congratulating and offering advice and support to friends and colleagues who tie the knot.
On Wednesday, Downing Street let it be known that Cameron would be wearing a morning suit after all.
This turnaround left Nick Clegg in the lurch. The Deputy Prime Minister doesn’t have a morning suit and so is now trying to work out whether to buy one on Tuesday or just rent one.
I hear that the deciding factor will be whether he reckons there will be another Royal wedding while he’s Deputy Prime Minister.
Friends of Cameron now claim that he had always intended to put on a morning suit for the occasion. They say that he had appreciated from the off that the Royal Wedding was different and so required more formal wear.
Why then the delay in letting this be known? And why did No 10 happily confirm my story on Sunday – then again on Monday? One Downing Street source tells me that Cameron, who is admirably loyal to those who work for him, was unwilling to disown the original briefing.
But, I suspect, there was slightly more to it than that. As I reported on Friday, people close to both Cameron and Clegg said that the two men were planning to wear normal, work suits to this State occasion.
Embarrassed: A shot from the Channel 4 docu-drama 'When Boris Met Dave', in which Tom Sweet played Mr Cameron (right), dressed in tails
One Liberal Democrat with a direct line to Clegg said to me then that with the Government beginning to cut public spending neither the Prime Minister nor the Deputy Prime Minister wanted to be photographed in the full rig of the traditional ruling class.
This reflects one of the Coalition’s great fears – that it risks being seen as a bunch of out-of-touch rich kids.
The Cameroons have long been sensitive on this point. As soon as the financial crisis hit, the Tories banned champagne at their party conferences – although they were happy to drink it if they were confident there were no photographers present – and tried to avoid being seen in anything smarter than a suit.
These worries have persisted in office. Cameron, under pressure from his former communications chief Andy Coulson, cancelled a planned family holiday in Thailand at Christmas for fear of being seen as out of touch.
Instead, the Camerons’ first foreign holiday since the Election was a quick Ryanair trip to Spain.
This very public concern about him being seen as posh means that Cameron’s background remains more of a story than it otherwise would be.
The Prime Minister has often declared that ‘what people are interested in is not where you come from but where you’re going’. Cameron and his team should have the courage of these words.
They’d have certainly avoided all this trouble, if they’d followed Cameron’s own dictum.
Samantha Cameron is bringing the generations together for her Downing Street Royal Wedding street party on Friday afternoon. She’s invited a mix of local pensioners and school children. Her plan is to pair them off – to persuade the kids to make friends with the old folk and go to visit them regularly.
Some of the pupils who are coming are already part of a scheme where they visit a senior citizen once a week. Sam Cam has recruited 30 members of the Downing Street staff to bake cakes, make sandwiches and serve the food at the party. She and her volunteers will provide all the food themselves so there’ll be no cost to the taxpayer from the bash.
The only downside for those lucky enough to be invited – it’s a dry party.
Will they ever play tennis again after this?
Nick Clegg and David Cameron’s relationship is being tested like never before by the imminent referendum on changing the voting system. The chumminess of their Rose Garden days now seems a long time ago.
The two leaders are on opposite sides of this referendum and know that whoever loses risks being deposed by their own party before the next Election.
For months, Cameron seemed oblivious to this danger – doing little for the No campaign.
He even, according to those in Clegg’s circle, came to a gentlemen’s agreement with his deputy to take a low profile on the issue.
But when he realised just what was at stake, he allowed the No campaign to savage Clegg. When, at a meeting in 10 Downing Street, a representative of the No campaign told Cameron how they were going to go for Clegg, Cameron simply smiled and indicated his assent.
The result is a ruthless focus by the No camp on the Deputy Prime Minister and his broken promises.
One close Clegg ally complains that ‘lines have undoubtedly been crossed’ by the Conservatives. They warn that the assault on Clegg’s character will end up weakening the Coalition itself. They see the decision to go so hard against AV as part of a broader shift in Cameron’s behaviour in the past few months. They complain that he’s become more tactical and more afraid of his own Right-wing.
Certainly, relations between the two men are cooler than they have been since the Coalition was formed. One close Clegg ally says: ‘I don’t think they’ll play tennis again for a long time.’
The free ride on the dole is coming to an end. Chris Grayling, the Work and Pensions Minister, will soon announce that those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance will be forced to do 30 hours of work a week in exchange for their benefits if Jobcentre staff suspect they are not ‘fully engaged’ in looking for a job.
When Grayling spent time at Jobcentres last summer he was struck by how little could be done even if it was obvious someone was not serious about finding work. He hopes that this new power will cut down fraudulent claims.
Grayling is turning out to be one of the quiet successes of the Coalition Government. One Downing Street source tells me that his good work has been noticed by Cameron and Osborne and he is now one of the favourites for promotion to the Cabinet next year.
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