Tories get new, young leader

2005-12-06 17:31

London - Britain's once-mighty Conservative Party crowned 39-year-old David Cameron as its new leader on Tuesday, hoping to end an election losing streak as Prime Minister Tony Blair's power and popularity sag.

Cameron, a self-proclaimed moderniser whose youth and style remind many of Blair, faces the challenge of leading the Conservatives back from the political wilderness after three disastrous election defeats.

Cameron rolled up 134 446 votes from party members, more than doubling the 64 398 for David Davis, 56.

Cameron becomes the party's fifth leader since Margaret Thatcher stepped down as prime minister in 1990, a trauma from which the Tories have yet to fully recover.

Supporters say Cameron, a product of the elite private school Eton, can be the party's saviour.

Cameron's vigour and passion have prompted comparisons to Blair, who was 41 when he took the reins of the Labour Party and turned it into an electoral powerhouse.

Both men are products of Oxford University, are powerful debaters and savvy media operators.

- AP