Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984), nicknamed (The Kid in Spanish), is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker.

Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his first team debut in 2001 and finished his career with the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool’s first player, since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season, to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals after scoring against Aston Villa in December 2009. He left the club in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of £50 million, which also made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.

Torres is a Spanish international and made his debut for the country against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in four major tournaments, UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Torres did not score at Euro 2004, but netted three at the 2006 World Cup. He scored twice at UEFA Euro 2008, including the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the final. Spain also won the 2010 World Cup, but Torres did not score any goals during the tournament.

Early career

Born in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Torres became interested in football as a child and joined his first team, Parque 84, at the age of five. His father José Torres worked during Torres’ childhood, and his mother Flori Sanz traveled daily with him to training sessions. His grandfather was not a passionate football fan, but took pride in being an Atlético Madrid supporter, and Torres inherited his love for the club.

Torres started playing football as a goalkeeper, the position his brother played in. When he was seven years old, however, he started playing regularly as a striker in an indoor league for the neighborhood club, Mario’s Holland, using the characters from the anime Captain Tsubasa as inspiration. Three years later, aged 10, he progressed to an 11-side team, Rayo 13. He scored 55 goals in a season and was one of three Rayo 13 players to earn a trial with Atlético. He impressed the scouts and joined the club’s youth system at the age of 11 in 1995.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

After progressing through the ranks, Torres won his first important youth title in 1998. Atlético sent an under-15 team to compete in the Nike Cup, in Spain and Europe, to play against youth teams from other clubs; Atlético won the tournament. He was later voted the best player in Europe for the age group. The 2000–01 season had started badly, as Torres suffered from a cracked shinbone which kept him out until December. Torres trained with the first team to get prepared for pre-season, but eventually made his debut for the team on 27 May 2001, at Vicente Calderón, against CD Leganés. A week later, he scored his first goal for the club against Albacete Balompié and the season finished with Atlético narrowly missing out on promotion to La Liga.
Atlético were promoted to La Liga at the end of the 2001–02 season, although Torres did not perform well in the season, as he netted only six times in 36 appearances in the Segunda División. Torres’ first season in La Liga, 2002–03, was better, however, as he scored 13 goals in 29 appearances, with Atlético finishing in 11th place. In the 2003–04 season, his second in La Liga, Torres made further strides, scoring 19 league goals in 35 appearances, meaning he finished as joint third highest scorer in the league. At the age of 19, Torres was named Atlético’s captain. He scored two goals in the two fourth round matches against OFK Beograd, with one coming in each leg. Atlético reached the Final, but lost 3–1 on a penalty shootout to Villarreal CF following a 2–2 draw on aggregate. FA Premier League champions Chelsea were believed to be interested in signing Torres in 2005, but Atlético president Enrique Cerezo said that they had “no chance” of signing him. Cerezo later said in January 2006 that the club were willing to listen to offers for Torres, and Torres claimed Newcastle United had made a bid to sign him in March.

He stated after the 2006 FIFA World Cup that he had turned down an offer to join Chelsea at the end of the 2005–06 season. Torres scored 14 league goals in the 2006–07 season. The English media reported that he was the main transfer target of Liverpool, but Cerezo stated “We’ve received no offer from Liverpool or any other club or player”. However, a few days later, new reports suggested Atlético had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres; the fee was rumored to be £25 million with Luis García moving to Atletico in a separate transfer deal. On 30 June, Atlético announced a deal to sign Diego Forlán from Villarreal, in what was seen as a move to replace Torres before his departure became official. On 2 July, it was reported that Torres had cut short a vacation to fly back to Madrid to finalise the move to Liverpool. The following day, Torres passed a medical for Liverpool’s Melwood training ground. He held a press conference in Madrid on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético fans, before completing his move to Liverpool on a six-year contract. The transfer fee was the highest in Liverpool’s history. In March 2008, manager Rafael Benítez stated in an interview with The Times that Torres was acquired for around £20 million, although this figure takes into account García’s move to Atlético.

Liverpool

2007–08 season

Torres made his competitive debut for Liverpool against Aston Villa in a 2–1 win on 11 August 2007. He made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League four days later in a 1–0 victory over Toulouse, after coming on as a 79th minute substitute. His first Premier League goal came on his Anfield debut on 19 August, in the 16th minute in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea. His first hat-trick came in a 4–2 victory over Reading in the League Cup in September, with all of his goals coming in the second half. His first goals in the Champions League came on his third appearance in the competition as Liverpool beat Porto 4–1, as he scored twice.

He was named Premier League Player of the Month for February, during which he scored four goals in four appearances, including a hat-trick against Middlesbrough on 23 February 2008. Later in March, after he scored a 47th minute header against Reading at Anfield, becoming the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season campaign to score 20 league goals in a season. In April, he scored another Champions League goal, this time against Arsenal in the quarter-final second leg, as Liverpool advanced to the semi-final. This goal took him onto 29 goals for the 2007–08 season in all competitions, On 11 April 2008, it was announced Torres had made a six man shortlist for the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, which was eventually won by Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. The Spanish international was also nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year Award, which was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. In May, he finished second to Ronaldo for the FWA Footballer of the Year award.

On 4 May 2008, Torres scored a 57th minute winner against Manchester City, which equalled the consecutive Anfield league goal record of eight games set by Roger Hunt. After scoring his 24th league goal in the final game of the season, a 2–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, he set a new record for the most prolific foreign goal scorer ever in a debut season in England, eclipsing Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s 23 goals. He ended the season in joint second place with Emmanuel Adebayor in the race for the Premier League golden boot. Torres was subject to media speculation that Chelsea were willing to pay £50 million to sign him but Torres responded by saying it would be “many years” before he left Liverpool. Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks also negated the idea of a transfer, saying he would not allow Torres to leave the club at any price.

2008–09 season

Torres made a promising start to the 2008–09 Premier League season, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 away win against Sunderland. He suffered what was later confirmed as a hamstring tear in a 0–0 draw against Aston Villa, which would keep him out for two to three weeks. Torres made his return in a 2–1 victory against Marseille in the Champions League and went on to score two goals in the Merseyside derby against Everton on 27 September to give Liverpool a 2–0 win. He followed this up with another two goals the following weekend against Manchester City in a 3–2 win away at the City of Manchester Stadium as Liverpool came back from a two goal deficit. The first of these was the thousandth Liverpool goal to be scored in the Premier League. Torres picked up a hamstring injury during a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, meaning he was likely to miss three games for Liverpool. On 22 October, Liverpool played Torres’ former club Atlético in the Champions League at the Vicente Calderón, but his injury meant he missed out on the game. The Atlético president, Enrique Cerezo, had given him a VIP invitation to watch the game, but he declined this to recover his rehabilitation from injury in Merseyside. He was named in the FIFPro World XI team for the 2007–08 season on 27 October.

Torres made his return for Liverpool after coming on as a 72nd minute substitute in a 3–0 victory against West Bromwich Albion (West Brom). He said he would be interested in returning to former club Atlético eventually, saying “I don’t know if I will retire there, but I would like to go back and finish some things that are left to do.” He was ruled out of action for two to three weeks following Liverpool’s 1–0 victory over Marseille in the Champions League in November, where he picked up a hamstring strain, which was later extended to at least four weeks by specialists. He was named on the shortlist for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in December, and eventually came in third place behind Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Torres returned to action on 3 January 2009 as a substitute with a goal in the 2–0 win over Preston North End; his first in the FA Cup. He scored two late goals for Liverpool to secure a 2–0 victory over Chelsea on 1 February. Despite having spent a year and a half at the club, Torres was chosen as number 50 in The Times‘s list of “The 50 greatest Liverpool players”, reinforcing the impact he had made at Liverpool in such a short period of time.

Torres faced his old rivals Real Madrid on 10 March in the Champions League last 16 and due to an ankle injury, he had a painkilling injecting before the game to enable him to play. He scored the first goal of the game, which ended as a 4–0 victory, meaning Liverpool progressed to the quarter-finals 5–0 on aggregate. Four days later he lined up against Manchester United at Old Trafford and he scored the equaliser in a game that finished as a 4–1 victory. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the second season running in April 2009. Torres scored his 50th goal for Liverpool on 24 May against Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the 2008–09 season, which was his 84th appearance.

2009–10 season

Following the end of the season, he agreed a new contract with Liverpool, which he signed on 14 August. By signing this contract, Liverpool increased his wage to £110,000 a week and included the option of a one-year extension after its expiry in 2013. Torres scored two goals in a 3–2 win over West Ham United on 19 September 2009, a result that took Liverpool to third in the Premier League. A week later he scored his first hat-trick of the 2009–10 Premier League season in a 6–1 victory over Hull City at Anfield. He was named Premier League Player of the Month for September, after scoring five goals during the month and becoming the Premier League’s top goalscorer. On 25 October, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 victory for Liverpool over Manchester United, after which Benítez praised Torres’ performance, saying “We were waiting for that final pass. When it came we knew he would score.” Torres was named in the FIFPro World XI for the second successive season in December. His stoppage-time winning goal against Aston Villa on 29 December 2009 made him the fastest Liverpool player ever to score 50 league goals. He was substituted on 65 minutes in a 1–1 draw with Birmingham City on 4 April 2010, which Benítez justified by saying Torres was “exhausted”. Torres made his last appearance of the season scoring twice in a 4–1 victory over S.L. Benfica on in the UEFA Cup 8 April, This meant that Torres finished the season with 22 goals in 32 games in all competitions, finishing as Liverpool’s top scorer for the second time.

2010–11 season

Following his appointment as Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson stated Torres would not be sold by the club, saying “He is not for sale and we don’t welcome any offers for him. We want to keep him.” Hodgson dismissed reports Torres was set to leave Liverpool by saying “He has told us that he is looking forward to Monday, to getting back to work and looking forward to playing for Liverpool next season. That is what I know so other reports, I would suggest, are erroneous.” Torres stated his commitment to Liverpool on 3 August, saying “My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed.” He made his first appearance of the 2010–11 season in the opening game, a 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 14 August, entering the game as a substitute in the 74th minute. He scored his first goal of the season with the winner in a 1–0 victory over West Brom on 29 August, which was his 50th goal in all competitions to be scored at Anfield. Torres scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 24 October, which was his first goal since August. He followed this up by scoring both goals in Liverpool’s 2–0 win over Chelsea on 7 November. On 1 January 2011, Torres scored the equaliser in a 2–1 win against Bolton Wanderers.

Chelsea

On 27 January, Torres was the subject of a £40 million bid from Chelsea, which was rejected by Liverpool. He subsequently handed in an official transfer request to Liverpool the next day, which was rejected. Torres completed his move to Chelsea on a five-and-a-half year contract on 31 January for an undisclosed fee reported to be £50 million, which set a new record for a British transfer and made him the fourth most expensive footballer in history. He made his debut on 6 February in a 1–0 defeat to former club Liverpool. On 23 April, Torres scored his first goal for Chelsea against West Ham United in a 3–0 victory, which ended a run of 903 minutes of football without a goal.

2011-12 season

Torres got the new season underway with a Man of the Match performance away against Stoke City, the match ended 0-0.

International career

In February 2001, Torres won the Algarve Tournament with the Spain national under-16 team. The under-16s took part in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship in May, which they also won, with Torres scoring the only goal in the Final, as well as finishing as the tournament’s leading scorer, and was also named the player of the tournament.}}

Torres made his debut for the senior Spanish national team on 6 September 2003 in a friendly against Portugal. His first goal for Spain came against Italy on 28 April 2004. He was selected for the Spanish squad for UEFA Euro 2004. After appearing as a late substitute in Spain’s first two group games, he started for the deciding game against Portugal. Spain were losing 1–0 and, towards the end of the game, he hit the post.

He scored seven goals in 11 appearances in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, making him Spain’s top scorer for qualification, including a vital two goals against Belgium and his first international hat-trick against San Marino. At his first ever appearance in a FIFA World Cup finals at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Torres scored the final goal in a 4–0 victory over Ukraine with a volley. In the second group match, Torres scored twice against Tunisia, first in the 76th minute to take Spain 2–1 into the lead, and then again from a penalty kick in the 90th. With three goals, he finished the tournament as Spain’s top scorer along with fellow striker David Villa.

He was called up for Spain’s UEFA Euro 2008 squad, where he set up Villa to score Spain’s first goal of the tournament in the first game in the group stage against Russia. Torres came under criticism for apparently refusing to shake the hand of Spanish manager, Luis Aragonés, after being substituted. He subsequently denied being angry with the coaching, saying that he was actually “irritated with himself”. He scored his first goal of the tournament in Spain’s next game, a 2–1 win over Sweden. Torres scored the winner and was named the man of the match in the Final against Germany in a 1–0 victory. He said “It’s just a dream come true. This is my first title and I hope it’s the first of many. Victory in a Euro, it is almost as big as a World Cup. We are used to watching finals on television, but today we were here and we won. My job is to score goals. I want to win more titles and be the most important player in Europe and the world.” He was later named as a striker along with his striking partner Villa in the Team of the Tournament.

Torres made his 60th appearance for Spain in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification victory over Turkey on 28 March 2009, becoming the youngest player to reach this milestone. He was named in Spain’s team for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in June. He scored his second hat-trick for Spain after 17 minutes into a Confederations Cup game against New Zealand on 14 June, thus recording the fastest hat-trick by a player for Spain. He played for Spain as they were defeated 2–0 by the United States in the semi-final, as well as the third-place play-off, which Spain won 3–2 against South Africa after extra time.

Having undergone knee surgery on 18 April 2010, and missed the end of the Premier League season, Torres’ rehabilitation and fitness was closely monitored by Spain manager Vicente del Bosque. On 8 June, Torres made his first appearance on the field in exactly two months, coming on as a substitute on 66 minutes against Poland in a pre-World Cup friendly. He came on as a substitute on 61 minutes in Spain’s opening World Cup game on 16 June, a 1–0 defeat to Switzerland. He started the next two games against Honduras and Chile and although his performances in the group stage were described as below-par, he received backing from manager Vicente del Bosque. Torres came on as a substitute on 105 minutes in the Final as Spain won the FIFA World Cup for the first time following a 1–0 victory over the Netherlands on 11 July 2010.

Personal life

Torres’ parents are José and Flori, and he has two older siblings, Israel (born 1977) and Maria Paz (born 1976). He married Olalla Domínguez Liste, with whom he had been in a relationship since 2001, on 27 May 2009 in a private ceremony with just two guests at the local town hall in El Escorial, Madrid. They had been an item for eight years and are thought to have met in the Galician seaside town of Estorde, where Torres would go on family holidays each year to escape the Spanish capital. The couple have two children, a daughter, Nora, born on 8 July 2009 at the Hospital La Rosaleda, in Santiago de Compostela, and a son, born on 6 December 2010 at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, with Torres missing the Aston Villa game at Anfield.

In 2009, it was reported that Torres has a personal fortune of £14 million. He features in the video for “Ya Nada Volverá A Ser Como Antes” by Spanish pop rock group El Canto del Loco, whose singer, Dani Martín, shares a strong friendship with the footballer. He makes a cameo appearance in the 2005 comedy film Torrente 3: El protector. In 2009, he released an autobiography entitled Torres: El Niño: My Story.

Style of play

He is considered to be a world-class striker and he is “quick, strong, impressive in the air, blessed with expert technique and is cool and collected in front”.

Career statistics

Club

International appearances

0

1

1

1

0

1

2

1

1

!34

International goals

Estádio Capitão Josino da Costa, Lagoa Municipality (Algarve)

24 February 2001

24 February 2001

27 February 2001

22 April 2001

24 April 2001

24 April 2001

29 April 2001

3 May 2001

3 May 2001

6 May 2001

Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, Trinidad and Tobago

Estadio de La Condomina, Murcia, Spain

22 May 2002

23 July 2002

25 July 2002

25 July 2002

28 July 2002

Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy

10 February 2005

26 March 2005

8 October 2005

8 October 2005

12 October 2005

12 October 2005

12 October 2005

12 November 2005

7 June 2006

14 June 2006

19 June 2006

19 June 2006

2 September 2006

12 September 2007

14 June 2008

29 June 2008

19 November 2008

9 June 2009

14 June 2009

14 June 2009

14 June 2009

12 August 2009

8 June 2010

3 September 2010

3 September 2010

4 June 2011

Honours

Atlético Madrid

Segunda División (1): 2001–02

International

UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship (1): 2001
UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship (1): 2002
UEFA European Championship (1): 2008
FIFA World Cup (1): 2010

Individual

Footnotes

References

;General

;Specific

External links

Category:1984 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Fuenlabrada
Category:Spanish footballers
Category:Spain youth international footballers
Category:Spain under-21 international footballers
Category:Spain international footballers
Category:Spanish expatriate footballers
Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom
Category:Expatriate footballers in England
Category:Association football forwards
Category:Atlético Madrid footballers
Category:Liverpool F.C. players
Category:Chelsea F.C. players
Category:La Liga footballers
Category:Premier League players
Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players
Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players
Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players
Category:2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players
Category:UEFA European Football Championship-winning players
Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players

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ast:Fernando Torres
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bn:ফের্নান্দো তোরেস
zh-min-nan:Fernando Torres
bg:Фернандо Торес
ca:Fernando José Torres Sanz
cs:Fernando Torres
cy:Fernando Torres
da:Fernando Torres
de:Fernando Torres
et:Fernando Torres
el:Φερνάντο Τόρρες
es:Fernando Torres
eo:Fernando Torres
eu:Fernando Torres
fa:فرناندو تورس
fr:Fernando Torres
ga:Fernando Torres
gl:Fernando Torres
ko:페르난도 토레스
hy:Ֆերնանդո Տորրես
hr:Fernando Torres
id:Fernando Torres
is:Fernando Torres
it:Fernando Torres
he:פרננדו טורס
jv:Fernando Torres
ka:ფერნანდო ტორესი
kk:Фернандо Торрес
la:Fernandus Torres
lv:Fernando Toress
lt:Fernando Torres
hu:Fernando Torres
mk:Фернандо Торес
mt:Fernando Torres
mr:फेर्नान्दो तोरेस
ms:Fernando Torres
mn:Фернандо Торрес
nl:Fernando Torres
ja:フェルナンド・トーレス
no:Fernando Torres
nn:Fernando Torres
pl:Fernando Torres
pt:Fernando Torres (futebolista)
ro:Fernando Torres
ru:Торрес, Фернандо
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sk:Fernando Torres
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sr:Фернандо Торес
sh:Fernando Torres
fi:Fernando Torres
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th:เฟร์นันโด ตอร์เรส
tr:Fernando Torres
uk:Фернандо Торрес
vi:Fernando Torres
zh-yue:費蘭度托利斯
zh:費蘭度·托利斯

Original post by WN.com – Top English Stories

David William Donald Cameron (; born 9 October 1966) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. He represents Witney as its Member of Parliament (MP).

Cameron studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford, gaining a first class honours degree. He then joined the Conservative Research Department and became Special Adviser to Norman Lamont, and then to Michael Howard. He was Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years.

He was defeated in his first candidacy for Parliament at Stafford in 1997, but was elected in 2001 as the Member of Parliament for the Oxfordshire constituency of Witney. He was promoted to the Opposition front bench two years later, and rose rapidly to become head of policy co-ordination during the 2005 general election campaign. With a public image of a young, moderate candidate who would appeal to young voters, he won the Conservative leadership election in 2005.

In the 2010 general election held on 6 May, the Conservatives won 307 seats in a hung parliament. After five days of intense negotiations, Cameron formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The 43-year-old Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool 198 years earlier. Cameron leads the first coalition government of the United Kingdom since the Second World War.

Family

David Cameron is the younger son of stockbroker Ian Donald Cameron (12 October 1932 – 8 September 2010) and his wife Mary Fleur (née Mount, born 1934, a retired Justice of the Peace, daughter of Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet). His father, Ian, was born with both legs deformed and underwent repeated operations to correct them. Cameron’s parents married on 20 October 1962. He was born in London, and brought up in Peasemore, Berkshire. Cameron has a brother, Allan Alexander (born 1963, a barrister and QC) and two sisters, Tania Rachel (born 1965) and Clare Louise (born 1971). His father was born at Blairmore House, a country house near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and died near Toulon in France on 8 September 2010. Blairmore was built by his great-great-grandfather, Alexander Geddes, who had made a fortune in the grain trade in Chicago, and returned to Scotland in the 1880s.

Through his paternal grandmother, Enid Agnes Maud Levita, Cameron is a direct descendant of King William IV by his mistress Dorothea Jordan. This illegitimate line consists of five generations of women starting with Elizabeth Hay, Countess of Erroll née FitzClarence, William and Jordan’s sixth child, through to Cameron’s grandmother (thereby making Cameron a 5th cousin of Queen Elizabeth II). Cameron’s paternal forebears also have a long history in finance. His father Ian was senior partner of the stockbrokers Panmure Gordon, in which firm partnerships had long been held by Cameron’s ancestors, including David’s grandfather and great-grandfather, and was a Director of estate agent John D Wood. David Cameron’s great-great grandfather Emile Levita, a German-Jewish financier (and descendant of Renaissance scholar Elia Levita) who obtained British citizenship in 1871, was the director of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China which became Standard Chartered Bank in 1969. His wife, Cameron’s great-great grandmother, was a descendant of the wealthy Danish Jewish Rée family on her father’s side. One of Emile’s sons, Arthur Francis Levita (died 1910, brother of Sir Cecil Levita), of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers, together with great-great-grandfather Sir Ewen Cameron, London head of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, played key roles in arranging loans supplied by the Rothschilds to the Japanese Central Banker (later Prime Minister) Takahashi Korekiyo for the financing of the Japanese Government in the Russo-Japanese war.

Cameron’s maternal grandfather was Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet, an Army officer and the High Sheriff of Berkshire, and Cameron’s maternal great-grandfather was Sir William Mount, 1st Baronet, CBE, Conservative MP for Newbury 1918–1922. Cameron’s great-great grandmother was Lady Ida Matilda Alice Feilding. His great-great-great grandfather was William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh, GCH, PC, a courtier and Gentleman of the Bedchamber. His mother’s cousin, Sir Ferdinand Mount, was head of 10 Downing Street‘s Policy Unit in the early 1980s. Cameron is the nephew of Sir William Dugdale, brother-in-law of Katherine, Lady Dugdale (died 2004) Lady-in-Waiting to HM The Queen since 1955, and former Chairman of Aston Villa Football Club. Birmingham born documentary film-maker Joshua Dugdale is his cousin.

Education

From the age of seven, Cameron was educated at two independent schools: at Heatherdown Preparatory School at Winkfield, in Berkshire, which counts Prince Andrew and Prince Edward among its alumni. Due to good academic grades, Cameron entered its top academic class almost two years early. At the age of thirteen, he went to Eton College in Berkshire, following his father and elder brother. Eton is often described as the most famous independent school in the world, and “the chief nurse of England’s statesmen”. His early interest was in art. Cameron was in trouble as a teenager, six weeks before taking his O-Levels, when he was named as having smoked cannabis. He admitted the offence and had not been involved in selling drugs, so he was not expelled, but was fined, prevented from leaving school grounds, and given a “Georgic” (a punishment which involved copying 500 lines of Latin text).

Cameron passed 12 O-levels, and then studied three A-Levels in History of Art, History and Economics with Politics. He obtained three ‘A’ grades and a ’1′ grade in the Scholarship Level exam in Economics and Politics. The following autumn he passed the entrance exam for Oxford University, where he was offered an exhibition.

After leaving Eton in 1984, Cameron started a nine month gap year. He worked as a researcher for Tim Rathbone, Conservative MP for Lewes and his godfather. In his three months he attended debates in the House of Commons. Through his father, he was then employed for a further three months in Hong Kong by Jardine Matheson as a ‘ship jumper’, an administrative post.

Returning from Hong Kong he visited the then Soviet Union, where he was approached by two Russian men speaking fluent English. Cameron was later told by one of his professors that it was ‘definitely an attempt’ by the KGB to recruit him.

Cameron then began his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Brasenose College, Oxford. His tutor, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, described him as “one of the ablest” students he has taught, with “moderate and sensible Conservative” political views. Guy Spier, who shared tutorials with him, remembers him as an outstanding student; “We were doing our best to grasp basic economic concepts. David – there was nobody else who came even close. He would be integrating them with the way the British political system is put together. He could have lectured me on it, and I would have sat there and taken notes..” When commenting in 2006 on his former pupil’s ideas about a “Bill of Rights” to replace the Human Rights Act, however, Professor Bogdanor, himself a Liberal Democrat, said, “I think he is very confused. I’ve read his speech and it’s filled with contradictions. There are one or two good things in it but one glimpses them, as it were, through a mist of misunderstanding”.

While at Oxford, Cameron was a member of the elite student dining society the Bullingdon Club, which has a reputation for an outlandish drinking culture associated with boisterous behaviour and damaging property. A photograph showing Cameron in a tailcoat with other members of the club, including Boris Johnson, surfaced in 2007, but was later withdrawn by the copyright holder. Cameron’s period in the Bullingdon Club is examined in the Channel 4 docu-drama When Boris Met Dave broadcast on 7 October 2009. Cameron graduated in 1988 with a first class honours degree.

Early political career

Conservative Research Department

After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department between September 1988 and 1993. A feature on Cameron in The Mail on Sunday on 18 March 2007 reported that on the day he was due to attend a job interview at Conservative Central Office, a phone call was received from Buckingham Palace. The male caller stated, “I understand you are to see David Cameron. I’ve tried everything I can to dissuade him from wasting his time on politics but I have failed. I am ringing to tell you that you are about to meet a truly remarkable young man.”

In 1991, Cameron was seconded to Downing Street to work on briefing John Major for his then bi-weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions. One newspaper gave Cameron the credit for “sharper [...] despatch box performances” by Major, which included highlighting for Major “a dreadful piece of doublespeak” by Tony Blair (then the Labour Employment spokesman) over the effect of a national minimum wage. He became head of the political section of the Conservative Research Department, and in August 1991 was tipped to follow Judith Chaplin as Political Secretary to the Prime Minister.

However, Cameron lost to Jonathan Hill, who was appointed in March 1992. He was given the responsibility for briefing Major for his press conferences during the 1992 general election. During the campaign, Cameron was one of the young “brat pack” of party strategists who worked between 12 and 20 hours a day, sleeping in the house of Alan Duncan in Gayfere Street, Westminster, which had been Major’s campaign headquarters during his bid for the Conservative leadership. Cameron headed the economic section; it was while working on this campaign that Cameron first worked closely with Steve Hilton, who was later to become Director of Strategy during his party leadership. The strain of getting up at 4:45 am every day was reported to have led Cameron to decide to leave politics in favour of journalism.

Special Adviser

The Conservatives’ unexpected success in the 1992 election led Cameron to hit back at older party members who had criticised him and his colleagues, saying “whatever people say about us, we got the campaign right,” and that they had listened to their campaign workers on the ground rather than the newspapers. He revealed he had led other members of the team across Smith Square to jeer at Transport House, the former Labour headquarters. Cameron was rewarded with a promotion to Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont.

Cameron was working for Lamont at the time of Black Wednesday, when pressure from currency speculators forced the Pound sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. At the 1992 Conservative Party conference, Cameron had difficulty trying to arrange to brief the speakers in the economic debate, having to resort to putting messages on the internal television system imploring the mover of the motion, Patricia Morris, to contact him. Later that month Cameron joined a delegation of Special Advisers who visited Germany to build better relations with the Christian Democratic Union; he was reported to be “still smarting” over the Bundesbank‘s contribution to the economic crisis.

Lamont fell out with John Major after Black Wednesday and became highly unpopular with the public. Taxes needed to be raised in the 1993 Budget, and Cameron fed the options Lamont was considering through to Conservative Central Office for their political acceptability to be assessed. However, Lamont’s unpopularity did not necessarily affect Cameron: he was considered as a potential “kamikaze” candidate for the Newbury By-election, which includes the area where he grew up. However, Cameron decided not to stand.

During the by-election, Lamont gave the response “Je ne regrette rien” to a question about whether he most regretted claiming to see “the green shoots of recovery” or admitted “singing in his bath” with happiness at leaving the ERM. Cameron was identified by one journalist as having inspired this gaffe; it was speculated that the heavy Conservative defeat in Newbury may have cost Cameron his chance of becoming Chancellor himself, even though as he was not a Member of Parliament he could not have been. Lamont was sacked at the end of May 1993, and decided not to write the usual letter of resignation; Cameron was given the responsibility to issue to the press a statement of self-justification.

Home Office

After Lamont was sacked, Cameron remained at the Treasury for less than a month before being specifically recruited by Home Secretary Michael Howard; it was commented that he was still “very much in favour”. It was later reported that many at the Treasury would have preferred Cameron to carry on. At the beginning of September 1993, Cameron applied to go on Conservative Central Office’s list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates.

According to Derek Lewis, then Director-General of Her Majesty’s Prison Service, Cameron showed him a “his and hers list” of proposals made by Howard and his wife, Sandra. Lewis said that Sandra Howard‘s list included reducing the quality of prison food, although Sandra Howard denied this claim. Lewis reported that Cameron was “uncomfortable” about the list. In defending Sandra Howard and insisting that she made no such proposal, the journalist Bruce Anderson wrote that Cameron had proposed a much shorter definition on prison catering which revolved around the phrase “balanced diet”, and that Lewis had written thanking Cameron for a valuable contribution.

During his work for Howard, Cameron often briefed the media. In March 1994, someone leaked to the Press that the Labour Party had called for a meeting with John Major to discuss a consensus on the Prevention of Terrorism Act. After an enquiry failed to find the source of the leak, Labour MP Peter Mandelson demanded assurance from Howard that Cameron had not been responsible, which Howard gave. A senior Home Office Civil Servant noted the influence of Howard’s Special Advisers saying previous incumbents “would listen to the evidence before making a decision. Howard just talks to young public school gentlemen from the party headquarters.”

Carlton

In July 1994, Cameron left his role as Special Adviser to work as the Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications. Carlton, which had won the ITV franchise for London weekdays in 1991, was a growing media company which also had film distribution and video producing arms. In 1997 Cameron played up the Company’s prospects for digital terrestrial television, for which it joined with Granada television and BSkyB to form British Digital Broadcasting. In a roundtable discussion on the future of broadcasting in 1998 he criticised the effect of overlapping different regulators on the industry.

Carlton’s consortium did win the digital terrestrial franchise but the resulting company suffered difficulties in attracting subscribers. In 1999 the Express on Sunday newspaper claimed Cameron had rubbished one of its stories which had given an accurate number of subscribers, because he wanted the number to appear higher than expected. Cameron resigned as Director of Corporate Affairs in February 2001 in order to fight for election to Parliament, although he remained on the payroll as a consultant.

Parliamentary candidacy

Having been approved for the Candidates’ list, Cameron began looking for a seat. He was reported to have missed out on selection for Ashford in December 1994 after failing to get to the selection meeting as a result of train delays. Early in 1996, he was selected for Stafford, a new constituency created by boundary changes, which was projected to have a Conservative majority. At the 1996 Conservative Party Conference he called for tax cuts in the forthcoming Budget to be targeted at the low paid and to “small businesses where people took money out of their own pockets to put into companies to keep them going”. He also said the Party, “Should be proud of the Tory tax record but that people needed reminding of its achievements … It’s time to return to our tax cutting agenda. The socialist Prime Ministers of Europe have endorsed Tony Blair because they want a federal pussy cat and not a British lion.”

When writing his election address, Cameron made his own opposition to British membership of the single European currency clear, pledging not to support it. This was a break with official Conservative policy but about 200 other candidates were making similar declarations. Otherwise, Cameron kept very closely to the national party line. He also campaigned using the claim that a Labour Government would increase the cost of a pint of beer by 24p; however the Labour candidate David Kidney portrayed Cameron as “a right-wing Tory”. Stafford had a swing almost the same as the national swing, which made it one of the many seats to fall to Labour: David Kidney had a majority of 4,314.

In the round of selection contests taking place in the run-up to the 2001 general election, Cameron again attempted to be selected for a winnable seat. He tried out for the Kensington and Chelsea seat after the death of Alan Clark, but did not make the shortlist.

He was in the final two but narrowly lost at Wealden in March 2000, a loss ascribed by Samantha Cameron to his lack of spontaneity when speaking.

On 4 April 2000 Cameron was selected as prospective candidate (PPC) for Witney in Oxfordshire. This had been a safe Conservative seat but its sitting MP Shaun Woodward (who had worked with Cameron on the 1992 election campaign) had “crossed the floor” to join the Labour Party; newspapers claimed Cameron and Woodward had “loathed each other”, although Cameron’s biographers Francis Elliott and James Hanning describe them as being “on fairly friendly terms”. Cameron put a great deal of effort into “nursing” his potential constituency, turning up at social functions, and attacking Woodward for changing his mind on fox hunting to support a ban.

During the election campaign, Cameron accepted the offer of writing a regular column for The Guardian‘s online section. He won the seat with a 1.9% swing to the Conservatives and a majority of 7,973.

Member of Parliament

Upon his election to Parliament, he served as a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, a prominent appointment for a newly elected MP. Cameron’s proposed that the Committee launch an inquiry into the law on drugs, and urged the consideration of “radical options”. The report recommended a downgrading of Ecstasy from Class A to Class B, as well as moves towards a policy of ‘harm reduction‘, which Cameron defended.

Cameron determinedly attempted to increase his public profile, offering quotations on matters of public controversy. He opposed the payment of compensation to Gurbux Singh, who had resigned as head of the Commission for Racial Equality after a confrontation with the police; and commented that the Home Affairs Select Committee had taken a long time to discuss whether the phrase “black market” should be used. However, he was passed over for a front bench promotion in July 2002; Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith did invite Cameron and his ally George Osborne to coach him on Prime Minister’s Questions in November 2002. The next week, Cameron deliberately abstained in a vote on allowing same-sex and unmarried couples to adopt children jointly, against a whip to oppose; his abstention was noted. The wide scale of abstentions and rebellious votes destabilised the Iain Duncan Smith leadership.

In June 2003, Cameron was appointed as a shadow minister in the Privy Council Office as a deputy to Eric Forth, who was then Shadow Leader of the House. He also became a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party when Michael Howard took over the leadership in November of that year. He was appointed as the Opposition frontbench local government spokesman in 2004, before being promoted into the shadow cabinet that June as head of policy co-ordination. Later, he became Shadow Education Secretary in the post-election reshuffle.

From February 2002 until August 2005 he was a non-executive director of Urbium PLC, operator of the Tiger Tiger bar chain.

Leadership of the Conservative Party

Leadership election

Following the Labour victory in the May 2005 general election, Michael Howard announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and set a lengthy timetable for the leadership election.
Cameron announced formally that he would be a candidate for the position on 29 September 2005. Parliamentary colleagues supporting him initially included Boris Johnson, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, then Shadow Defence Secretary and deputy leader of the party Michael Ancram, Oliver Letwin and former party leader William Hague. Despite this, his campaign did not gain significant support prior to the 2005 Conservative Party Conference. However his speech, delivered without notes, proved a significant turning point. In the speech he vowed to make people, “feel good about being Conservatives again” and said he wanted, “to switch on a whole new generation.”

In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on 18 October 2005, Cameron came second, with 56 votes, slightly more than expected; David Davis had fewer than predicted at 62 votes; Liam Fox came third with 42 votes and Kenneth Clarke was eliminated with 38 votes. In the second ballot on 20 October 2005, Cameron came first with 90 votes; David Davis was second, with 57, and Liam Fox was eliminated with 51 votes. All 198 Conservative MPs voted in both ballots.

The next stage of the election process, between Davis and Cameron, was a vote open to the entire Conservative party membership. Cameron was elected with more than twice as many votes as Davis and more than half of all ballots issued; Cameron won 134,446 votes on a 78% turnout, beating Davis’s 64,398 votes. Although Davis had initially been the favourite, it was widely acknowledged that Davis’s candidacy was marred by a disappointing conference speech, whilst Cameron’s was well received. Cameron’s election as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition was announced on 6 December 2005. As is customary for an Opposition leader not already a member, upon election Cameron became a member of the Privy Council, being formally approved to join on 14 December 2005, and sworn of the Council on 8 March 2006.

Cameron’s appearance on the cover of Time in September 2008 was said by the Daily Mail to present him to the world as ‘Prime Minister in waiting’.

Reaction to Cameron as leader

Cameron’s relative youth and inexperience before becoming leader have invited satirical comparison with Tony Blair. Private Eye soon published a picture of both leaders on their front cover, with the caption “World’s first face transplant a success”. On the left, New Statesman has unfavourably likened his “new style of politics” to Tony Blair’s early leadership years. Cameron is accused of paying excessive attention to image, with ITV News broadcasting footage from the 2006 Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth which showed him wearing four different sets of clothes within the space of a few hours. Cameron was characterised in a Labour Party political broadcast as “Dave the Chameleon“, who would change what he said to match the expectations of his audience. Cameron later claimed that the broadcast had become his daughter’s “favourite video”. He has also been described by comedy writer and broadcaster Charlie Brooker as being “like a hollow Easter egg with no bag of sweets inside” in his Guardian column.

On the right, Norman Tebbit, former Chairman of the Conservative Party, has likened Cameron to Pol Pot, “intent on purging even the memory of Thatcherism before building a New Modern Compassionate Green Globally Aware Party”. Quentin Davies MP, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour on 26 June 2007, branded him “superficial, unreliable and [with] an apparent lack of any clear convictions” and stated that David Cameron had turned the Conservative Party’s mission into a “PR agenda”. Traditionalist conservative columnist and author Peter Hitchens has written that, “Mr Cameron has abandoned the last significant difference between his party and the established left”, by embracing social liberalism and has dubbed the party under his leadership “Blue Labour”, a pun on New Labour. Cameron responded by calling Hitchens a “maniac”. Daily Telegraph correspondent and blogger Gerald Warner has been particularly scathing about Cameron’s leadership, arguing that it is alienating traditionalist conservative elements from the Conservative Party.

Cameron is reported to be known to friends and family as “Dave”, though he invariably uses “David’” in public. Critics often refer to him as “Call me Dave”, implying populism in the same way as “Call me Tony” was used in 1997. The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein has condemned those who attempt to belittle Cameron by calling him ‘Dave’.

Shadow Cabinet appointments

His Shadow Cabinet appointments have included MPs associated with the various wings of the party. Former leader William Hague was appointed to the Foreign Affairs brief, while both George Osborne and David Davis were retained, as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Shadow Home Secretary respectively. Hague, assisted by Davis, stood in for Cameron during his paternity leave in February 2006. In June 2008 Davis announced his intention to resign as an MP, and was immediately replaced as Shadow Home Secretary by Dominic Grieve, the surprise move seen as a challenge to the changes introduced under Cameron’s leadership.

In January 2009 a reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet was undertaken. The chief change was the appointment of former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke as Shadow Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Secretary, David Cameron stating that “With Ken Clarke’s arrival, we now have the best economic team.” The reshuffle saw eight other changes made.

European Conservatives and Reformists

During his successful campaign to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party, Cameron pledged that the Conservative Party’s Members of the European Parliament would leave the European People’s Party group, which had a “federalist” approach to the European Union. Once elected Cameron began discussions with right-wing and eurosceptic parties in other European countries, mainly in eastern Europe, and in July 2006 he concluded an agreement to form the Movement for European Reform with the Czech Civic Democratic Party, leading to the formation of a new European Parliament group, the European Conservatives and Reformists, in 2009 after the European Parliament elections.
Cameron attended a gathering at Warsaw‘s Palladium cinema celebrating the foundation of the alliance.

In forming the caucus, which had 54 MEPs drawn from eight of the 27 EU member states, Cameron reportedly broke with two decades of Conservative cooperation with the centre-right Christian Democrats, the European People’s Party (EPP), on the grounds that they are dominated by European federalists and supporters of the Lisbon treaty. EPP leader Wilfried Martens, former prime minister of Belgium, has stated “Cameron’s campaign has been to take his party back to the centre in every policy area with one major exception: Europe. … I can’t understand his tactics. Merkel and Sarkozy will never accept his Euroscepticism.” The left-wing New Statesman magazine reported that the US administration had “concerns about Cameron among top members of the team” and quoted David Rothkopf in saying that the issue “makes Cameron an even more dubious choice to be Britain’s next prime minister than he was before and, should he attain that post, someone about whom the Obama administration ought to be very cautious.”

Shortlists for Parliamentary Candidates

Similarly, Cameron’s initial “A-List” of prospective parliamentary candidates has been attacked by members of his party, with the policy now having been discontinued in favour of gender balanced final shortlists. These have been criticised by senior Conservative MP and Prisons Spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe as an “insult to women”, Widdecombe accusing Cameron of “storing up huge problems for the future.” The plans have since led to conflict in a number of constituencies, including the widely reported resignation of Joanne Cash, a close friend of Cameron, as candidate in the constituency of Westminster North following a dispute described as “a battle for the soul of the Tory Party”.

2010 general election

The Conservatives had last won a general election in 1992. The general election of 2010 resulted in the Conservatives, led by Cameron, winning the largest number of seats (306). This was, however, 20 seats short of an overall majority and resulted in the nation’s first hung parliament since February 1974. Talks between Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg led to an agreed Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition.

Prime Minister

On 11 May 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and on his recommendation, Queen Elizabeth II invited Cameron to form a government. At age 43, Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool, who was appointed in 1812. In his first address outside 10 Downing Street, he announced his intention to form a coalition government, the first since the Second World War, with the Liberal Democrats.

Cameron outlined how he intended to “put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest.” As one of his first moves Cameron appointed Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, as Deputy Prime Minister on 11 May 2010. Between them, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats control 363 seats in the House of Commons, with a majority of 76 seats. On 2 June 2010, when Cameron took his first session of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) as Prime Minister, he began by offering his support and condolences to those affected by the shootings in Cumbria.

On 5 February 2011, Cameron criticised the failure of ‘state multiculturalism‘, in his first speech as PM on radicalisation and the causes of terrorism.

Policies and views

Self-description of views

Cameron describes himself as a “modern compassionate conservative” and has spoken of a need for a new style of politics, saying that he was “fed up with the Punch and Judy politics of Westminster“. He has stated that he is “certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don’t know whether that makes me a Thatcherite.” He has also claimed to be a “liberal Conservative”, and “not a deeply ideological person.” As Leader of the Opposition, Cameron stated that he did not intend to oppose the government as a matter of course, and would offer his support in areas of agreement. He has urged politicians to concentrate more on improving people’s happiness and “general well-being”, instead of focusing solely on “financial wealth”. There have been claims that he described himself to journalists at a dinner during the leadership contest as the “heir to Blair”. He believes that British Muslims have a duty to integrate into British culture, but notes that they find aspects such as high divorce rates and drug use uninspiring, and notes that “Not for the first time, I found myself thinking that it is mainstream Britain which needs to integrate more with the British Asian way of life, not the other way around.”

Daniel Finkelstein has said of the period leading up to Cameron’s election as leader of the Conservative party that “a small group of us (myself, David Cameron, George Osborne, Michael Gove, Nick Boles, Nick Herbert I think, once or twice) used to meet up in the offices of Policy Exchange, eat pizza, and consider the future of the Conservative Party”.

Cameron co-operated with Dylan Jones, giving him interviews and access, to enable him to produce the book Cameron on Cameron.

Parliamentary votes

During November 2001, Cameron voted to modify legislation allowing people detained at a police station to be fingerprinted and searched for an identifying birthmark to be applicable only in connection with a terrorism investigation. In March 2002, he voted against banning the hunting of wild mammals with dogs, being an occasional hunter himself. In April 2003, he voted against the introduction of a bill to ban smoking in restaurants. In June 2003, he voted against NHS Foundation Trusts. Also in 2003, he voted to keep the controversial Section 28 clause.

In March 2003, he voted against a motion that the case had not yet been made for the Iraq War, and then supported using “all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction“. In October 2003, however, he voted in favour of setting up a judicial inquiry into the Iraq War. In October 2004, he voted in favour of the Civil Partnership Bill. In February 2005, he voted in favour of changing the text in the Prevention of Terrorism Bill from “The Secretary of State may make a control order against an individual” to “The Secretary of State may apply to the court for a control order …” In October 2005, he voted against the Identity Cards Bill.

Criticism of other parties and politicians

Cameron criticised Gordon Brown (when Brown was Chancellor of the Exchequer) for being “an analogue politician in a digital age” and referred to him as “the roadblock to reform”. He has also said that John Prescott “clearly looks a fool” in light of allegations of ministerial misconduct. During a speech to the Ethnic Media Conference on 29 November 2006, Cameron also described Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, as an “ageing far left politician” in reference to Livingstone’s views on multiculturalism.

Since becoming prime minister, he has reacted to press reports that Brown could be the next head of the International Monetary Fund by hinting that he may block Brown from being appointed to the role, citing the huge national debt that Brown left the country with as a reason for Brown not being suitable for the role.

Cameron has accused the United Kingdom Independence Party of being “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly,” leading UKIP leader Nigel Farage to demand an apology for the remarks. Right-wing Conservative MP Bob Spink, who later defected to UKIP, also criticised the remarks, as did the Daily Telegraph.

Cameron was seen encouraging Conservative MPs to join the standing ovation given to Tony Blair at the end of his last Prime Minister’s Question Time; he had paid tribute to the “huge efforts” Blair had made and said Blair had “considerable achievements to his credit, whether it is peace in Northern Ireland or his work in the developing world, which will endure”.

In 2006, Cameron made a speech in which he described extremist Islamic organisations and the British National Party as “mirror images” to each other, both preaching “creeds of pure hatred”. Cameron is listed as being a supporter of Unite Against Fascism.

Cameron, in late 2009, urged the Lib Dems to join the Conservatives in a new “national movement” arguing there was “barely a cigarette paper” between them on a large number of issues. The invitation was rejected by the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, who attacked Cameron at the start of his party’s annual conference in Bournemouth, saying that the Conservatives were totally different from his party and that the Lib Dems were the true “progressives” in UK politics.

Political commentary

Allegations of social elitism

While Leader of the Conservative Party, Cameron has been accused of reliance on “old-boy networks” and attacked by his party for the imposition of selective shortlists of prospective parliamentary candidates.

The Guardian has accused Cameron of relying on “the most prestigious of old-boy networks in his attempt to return the Tories to power”, pointing out that three members of his shadow cabinet and 15 members of his front bench team were “Old Etonians“. Similarly, The Sunday Times has commented that “David Cameron has more Etonians around him than any leader since Macmillan” and asked whether he can “represent Britain from such a narrow base.” Former Labour cabinet minister Hazel Blears has said of Cameron, “You have to wonder about a man who surrounds himself with so many people who went to the same school. I’m pretty sure I don’t want 21st-century Britain run by people who went to just one school.”

Some supporters of the party have accused Cameron’s government for cronyism on the front benches, with Sir Tom Cowie, working-class founder of Arriva and former Conservative donor, ceasing his donations in August 2007 due to disillusionment with Cameron’s leadership, saying, “the Tory party seems to be run now by Old Etonians and they don’t seem to understand how other people live.” In reply, Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said when a party was changing, “there will always be people who are uncomfortable with that process”.

In a response to Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions in December 2009, Gordon Brown addressed the Conservative Party’s inheritance tax policy, saying it “seems to have been dreamed up on the playing fields of Eton”. This led to open discussion of “class war” by the mainstream media and leading politicians of both major parties, with speculation that the 2010 general election campaign would see the Labour Party highlight the backgrounds of senior Conservative politicians.

Raising teaching standards

At the launch of the Conservative Party’s education manifesto in January 2010, Cameron declared an admiration for the “brazenly elitist” approach to education of countries such as Singapore and South Korea and expressed a desire to “elevate the status of teaching in our country”. He suggested the adoption of more stringent criteria for entry to teaching and offered repayment of the loans of maths and science graduates obtaining first or 2.1 degrees from “good” universities. Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said “The message that the Conservatives are sending to the majority of students is that if you didn’t go to a university attended by members of the Shadow Cabinet, they don’t believe you’re worth as much.” In response to the manifesto as a whole, Chris Keates, head of teaching union NASUWT, said teachers would be left “shocked, dismayed and demoralised” and warned of the potential for strikes as a result.

South Africa

In April 2009, The Independent reported that in 1989, while Nelson Mandela remained imprisoned under the apartheid regime, David Cameron had accepted a trip to South Africa paid for by an anti-sanctions lobby firm. A spokesperson for Cameron responded by saying that the Conservative Party was at that time opposed to sanctions against South Africa and that his trip was a fact-finding mission. However, the newspaper reported that Cameron’s then superior at Conservative Research Department called the trip “jolly”, saying that “it was all terribly relaxed, just a little treat, a perk of the job. The Botha regime was attempting to make itself look less horrible, but I don’t regard it as having been of the faintest political consequence.” Cameron distanced himself from his party’s history of opposing sanctions against the regime. He was criticised by Labour MP Peter Hain, himself an anti-apartheid campaigner.

Turkey and Israel

In a speech in Ankara in July 2010, Cameron stated unequivocally his support for Turkey’s accession to the EU, citing economic, security and political considerations, and claimed that those who opposed Turkish membership were driven by “protectionism, narrow nationalism or prejudice”. In that speech, he was also critical of Israeli action during the Gaza flotilla raid and its Gaza policy, and repeated his opinion that Israel had turned Gaza into a “prison camp”, having previously referred to Gaza as “a giant open prison”. These views were met with mixed reactions.

At the end of May 2011, Cameron stepped down as patron of the Jewish National Fund the first British prime minister not to be patron of the charity in the 110 years of its existence.

Allegations of recreational drug use

During the leadership election, allegations were made that Cameron had used cannabis and cocaine recreationally before becoming an MP. Pressed on this point during the BBC programme Question Time, Cameron expressed the view that everybody was allowed to “err and stray” in their past. During his 2005 Conservative leadership campaign he addressed the question of drug consumption by remarking that “I did lots of things before I came into politics which I shouldn’t have done. We all did.”

Cameron and Andy Coulson

In 2007 Cameron appointed Andy Coulson, former editor of the News of the World as his director of communications. Coulson had resigned as the paper’s editor following the conviction of a reporter in relation to illegal phone hacking, although stating that he knew nothing about it. In June 2010 Downing Street confirmed Coulson’s annual salary as £140,000, the highest pay of any special adviser to UK Government. In January 2011 Coulson left his post, saying coverage of the phone hacking scandal was making it difficult to give his best to the job. In July 2011 he was arrested and questioned by police in connection with further allegations of illegal activities at the News of the World, and released on bail. Despite a call to apologise for hiring Coulson by the leader of the opposition Ed Miliband, Cameron defended the appointment, saying that he had taken a conscious choice to give someone who had screwed up a second chance. On 20 July, in a special parliamentary session at the House of Commons, arranged to discuss the News of the World phone hacking scandal, Cameron said that he “regretted the furore” that had resulted from his appointment of Coulson, and that “with hindsight” he would not have hired him.

Standing in opinion polls

In the first month of Cameron’s leadership, the Conservative Party’s standing in opinion polls rose, with several pollsters placing it ahead of the ruling Labour Party. While the Conservative and Labour Parties drew even in early spring 2006, following the May 2006 local elections various polls once again generally showed Conservative leads.

When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, Labour moved ahead and its ratings grew steadily at Cameron’s expense, an ICM poll in July showing Labour with a seven point lead in the wake of controversies over his policies. An ICM poll in September saw Cameron rated the least popular of the three main party leaders. A YouGov poll for Channel 4 one week later, after the Labour Party Conference, extended the Labour lead to 11 points, prompting further speculation of an early election.

Following the Conservative Party Conference in the first week of October 2007, the Conservatives drew level with Labour When Brown declared he would not call an election for the autumn, a decline in his and Labour’s standings followed. At the end of the year a series of polls showed improved support for the Conservatives giving them an 11 point lead over Labour. This decreased slightly in early 2008, and in March the Conservatives had their largest lead in opinion polls since October 1987, at 16 points. In May 2008, following the worst local election performance from the Labour Party in 40 years, the Conservative lead was up to 26 points, the largest since 1968.

In December 2008, a ComRes poll showed the Conservative lead had decreased dramatically though by February 2009 it had recovered to reach 12 points.
A period of relative stability in the polls was broken in mid-December 2009 and by January 2010 some polls were predicting a hung parliament

A YouGov poll on party leaders conducted on 9–10 June 2011 found 44% of the electorate thought he was doing well and 50% thought he was doing badly, whilst 38% thought he would be the best PM, 23% preferred Ed Miliband and 35% didn’t know.

Until his veto on treaty changes to the European Union in December 2011 amid the Eurozone crisis, most opinion polls that year had shown a slim Labour lead. However, many opinion polls showed that the majority of voters felt that Cameron made the right decision, Subsequent opinion polls have shown a narrow lead for the Conservatives ahead of Labour.

Personal life

Cameron married Samantha Gwendoline Sheffield, the daughter of Sir Reginald Adrian Berkeley Sheffield, 8th Baronet and Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones (now The Viscountess Astor), on 1 June 1996 at the Church of St Augustine of Canterbury, East Hendred, Oxfordshire. The Camerons have had four children. Their first child, Ivan Reginald Ian, was born on 8 April 2002 in Hammersmith and Fulham, London, with a rare combination of cerebral palsy and a form of severe epilepsy called Ohtahara syndrome, requiring round-the-clock care. Recalling the receipt of this news, Cameron is quoted as saying: “The news hits you like a freight train… You are depressed for a while because you are grieving for the difference between your hopes and the reality. But then you get over that, because he’s wonderful.” Ivan died at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London, on 25 February 2009, aged six.

David and Samantha Cameron have two daughters, Nancy Gwen (born 2004), and Florence Rose Endellion (born 24 August 2010), and a son, Arthur Elwen (born 2006). Cameron took paternity leave when his second son was born, and this decision received broad coverage. It was also stated that Cameron would be taking paternity leave after his second daughter was born. His second daughter, Florence Rose Endellion, was born on 24 August 2010, three weeks prematurely, while the family was on holiday in Cornwall. Her third given name, Endellion, is taken from the village of St Endellion near where the Camerons were holidaying.

A Daily Mail article from June 2007 quoted Sunday Times Rich List compiler Philip Beresford, who had valued the Conservative Leader for the first time, as saying: “I put the combined family wealth of David and Samantha Cameron at £30 million plus. Both sides of the family are extremely wealthy.” Another estimate is , though this figure excludes the million-pound legacies Cameron is expected to inherit from both sides of his family.

In early May 2008, David Cameron decided to enroll his daughter Nancy at a State school. The Camerons had been attending its associated church, which is near the Cameron family home in North Kensington, for three years.

On 8 September 2010 it was announced that Cameron would miss Prime Minister’s Questions in order to fly to southern France to see his father, Ian Cameron, who had suffered a stroke with coronary complications. Later that day, with David and other family members at his bedside, Ian died. On 17 September 2010, Cameron attended a private ceremony for the funeral of his father in Berkshire, which prevented him from hearing the address of The Pope to Westminster Hall, an occasion he would otherwise have attended.

Cameron supports Aston Villa Football Club. He also owns a cat, Larry, who lives at 10 Downing Street.

Cycling

He regularly uses his bicycle to commute to work. In early 2006 he was photographed cycling to work followed by his driver in a car carrying his belongings. His Conservative Party spokesperson subsequently said that this was a regular arrangement for Cameron at the time. Cameron’s bicycle was stolen in May 2009 while he was shopping. It was recovered with the aid of The Sunday Mirror. His bicycle has since been stolen again from near his house. He is an occasional jogger and has raised funds for charities by taking part in the Oxford 5K and the Great Brook Run.

Faith

Speaking of his religious beliefs, Cameron has said: “I’ve a sort of fairly classic Church of England faith”. He states that his politics “is not faith-driven”, adding: “I am a Christian, I go to church, I believe in God, but I do not have a direct line.” On religious faith in general he has said: “I do think that organised religion can get things wrong but the Church of England and the other churches do play a very important role in society.”

Questioned as to whether his faith had ever been tested, Cameron spoke of the birth of his severely disabled eldest son, saying: “You ask yourself, ‘If there is a God, why can anything like this happen?’” He went on to state that in some ways the experience had “strengthened” his beliefs.

Styles

Ancestry

Among Cameron’s ancestors is King William IV, who is his 5-times great-grandfather through an illegitimate daughter who was the mother of Agnes Duff, Countess Fife, who is shown in the ancestry chart below.

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|1= 1. David William Donald Cameron
|2= 2. Ian Donald Cameron
|3= 3. Mary Fleur Mount
|4= 4. Ewen Donald Cameron
|5= 5. Enid Agnes Maud Levita
|6= 6. Sir William Malcolm Mount, 2nd Baronet
|7= 7. Elizabeth Nance Llewellyn
|8= 8. Sir Ewen Allan Cameron
|9= 9. Rachel Margaret Geddes
|10= 10. Sir Arthur Francis Levita
|11= 11. Stephanie Agnes Cooper
|12= 12. Sir William Arthur Mount, 1st Baronet
|13= 13. Hilda Lucy Adelaide Low
|14= 14. Owen John Llewellyn, of Moulsford
|15= 15. Anna Elizabeth Mann
|16= 16. Sir Ewen Cameron
|17= 17. Josephine Elizabeth Houchen
|18= 18. Sir Alexander Geddes
|19= 19. Frances R. Sharp
|20= 20. Sir Emile George Charles Levita
|21= 21. Katherine Plumridge Rée
|22= 22. Sir Alfred Cooper
|23= 23. Lady Agnes Cecil Emmeline Duff
|24= 24. Sir William George Mount, of Wasing Place
|25= 25. Marianne Emily Clutterbuck
|26= 26. (William) Malcolm Low, Esq.
|27= 27. Lady Ida Matilda Alice Feilding
|28= 28. Evan Henry Llewellyn
|29= 29. Mary Blanche Somers
|30= 30. General Sir William John Mann
|31= 31. Julia Brown
|32= 32. Sir William Cameron
|33= 33. Catherine Cameron
|34= 34. John Houchen
|35= 35. Susannah Vautier
|36= 36. John Geddes
|37= 37. Jean McConnachie
|38= 38. Hugh Sharp
|39= 39. Rachel Stewart
|40= 40.
|41= 41.
|42= 42. Hermann Philip Rée
|43= 43. Catherine German
|44= 44. William Cooper
|45= 45. Anna Marsh
|46= 46. James Duff, 5th Earl Fife
|47= 47. Agnes Duff, Countess Fife
|48= 48. Sir William Mount
|49= 49. Charlotte Talbot
|50= 50. Colonel Robert Clutterbuck
|51= 51. Elizabeth Anne Hulton
|52= 52. General Sir John Low
|53= 53. Augusta Ludlow Shakespear
|54= 54. William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh
|55= 55. Lady Mary Elizabeth Kitty Moreton
|56= 56. Llewellyn Llewellyn
|57= 57. Eliza William Strick
|58= 58. Sir Thomas Somers
|59= 59. Elizabeth Williams
|60= 60. Rev. Thomas Mann
|61= 61. Ann Perkins
|62= 62. Sir Samuel Elms Brown
|63= 63. Elizabeth Norris
}}

See also

References

External links

Category:1966 births
Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs
Category:Current national leaders
Category:English Anglicans
Category:English people of Scottish descent
Category:Honorary Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford
Category:Leaders of the Conservative Party (UK)
Category:Leaders of the Opposition (United Kingdom)
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
Category:Old Etonians
Category:People from West Berkshire (district)
Category:Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
Category:UK MPs 2001–2005
Category:UK MPs 2005–2010
Category:UK MPs 2010–
Category:Living people

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zh-yue:甘民樂
zh:戴维·卡梅伦

Original post by WN.com – Top English Stories

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School before returning to Chicago and to work at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband’s presidential bid and delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and is the sister of Craig Robinson, men’s basketball coach at Oregon State University. As the wife of a Senator, and later the First Lady, she has become a fashion icon and role model for women, and an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition and healthy eating.

Family and education

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois, to Fraser Robinson III, a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian (née Shields), a secretary at Spiegel’s catalog store. Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Michelle entered high school. The Robinson and Shields families can trace their roots to pre-Civil War African Americans in the American South. Specifically, her roots can be traced to the Gullah people from South Carolina’s Lowcountry region. Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was an American slave in the state of South Carolina, where some of her paternal family still reside. Her maternal great-great-great grandmother, Melvinia Shields, also a slave, became pregnant by a white man. His name and the nature of their union have been lost. She gave birth to Michelle’s biracial maternal great-great grandfather, Dolphus T. Shields.

Michelle grew up in a two-story house on Euclid Street in Chicago’s South Shore community area. Her parents rented a small apartment on the house’s second floor from her great-aunt, who lived downstairs. She was raised in what she describes as a “conventional” home, with “the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table”. The family entertained together by playing games such as Monopoly and by reading. They attended services at nearby South Shore Methodist Church. The Robinsons used to vacation in a rustic cabin in White Cloud, Michigan. She and her brother, Craig (who is 21 months older), skipped the second grade. By sixth grade, Michelle joined a gifted class at Bryn Mawr Elementary School (later renamed Bouchet Academy).

She attended Whitney Young High School, Chicago’s first magnet high school, where she was a classmate of Jesse Jackson‘s daughter Santita. The round trip commute from the Robinsons’ South Side home to the Near West Side, where the school was located, took three hours. She was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council treasurer. Obama graduated in 1981 as the salutatorian of her class.

Michelle was inspired to follow her brother to Princeton University; he graduated in 1983. At Princeton, she challenged the teaching methodology for French because she felt that it should be more conversational. As part of her requirements for graduation, she wrote a thesis entitled “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community.” “I remember being shocked,” she says, “by college students who drove BMWs. I didn’t even know parents who drove BMWs.” While at Princeton, she got involved with the Third World Center (now known as the Carl A. Fields Center), an academic and cultural group that supported minority students, running their day care center which also included after school tutoring. Robinson majored in sociology and minored in African American studies and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985. She earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. At Harvard she participated in demonstrations advocating the hiring of professors who were members of minorities and worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, assisting low-income tenants with housing cases. She is the third First Lady with a postgraduate degree, after her two immediate predecessors, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Laura Bush. In July 2008, Obama accepted the invitation to become an honorary member of the 100-year-old black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which had no active undergraduate chapter at Princeton when she attended.

She met Barack Obama when they were among the few African Americans at their law firm, Sidley Austin (she has sometimes said only two, although others have pointed out there were others in different departments), and she was assigned to mentor him as a summer associate. Their relationship started with a business lunch and then a community organization meeting where he first impressed her. The couple’s first date was to the Spike Lee movie Do the Right Thing. They married in October 1992, and have two daughters, Malia Ann (born 1998) and Natasha (known as Sasha, born 2001). After his election to the U.S. Senate, the Obama family continued to live on Chicago’s South Side, choosing to remain there rather than moving to Washington, D.C. Throughout her husband’s 2008 campaign for President of the United States, she made a “commitment to be away overnight only once a week — to campaign only two days a week and be home by the end of the second day” for their two children. She is the first cousin, once removed, of Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., one of the country’s most prominent black rabbis.

She once requested that her then-fiancé meet her prospective boss, Valerie Jarrett, when considering her first career move. Now, Jarrett is one of her husband’s closest advisors. The marital relationship has had its ebbs and flows; the combination of an evolving family life and beginning political career led to many arguments about balancing work and family. Barack Obama wrote in his second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, that “Tired and stressed, we had little time for conversation, much less romance”. However, despite their family obligations and careers, they continue to attempt to schedule date nights.

The Obamas’ daughters attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private school. As a member of the school’s board, Michelle fought to maintain diversity in the school when other board members connected with the University of Chicago tried to reserve more slots for children of the university faculty. This resulted in a plan to expand the school. Malia and Sasha now attend Sidwell Friends School in Washington, after also considering Georgetown Day School. Michelle stated in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that they do not intend to have any more children. The Obamas have received advice from past first ladies Laura Bush, Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Rodham Clinton about raising children in the White House. Marian Robinson, Michelle’s mother, has moved into the White House to assist with child care.

Career

Following law school, she was an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin, where she first met her future husband. At the firm, she worked on marketing and intellectual property. She continues to hold her law license, but as she no longer needs it for her work, it has been on a voluntary inactive status since 1993.

In 1991, she held public sector positions in the Chicago city government as an Assistant to the Mayor, and as Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development. In 1993, she became Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies. She worked there nearly four years and set fundraising records for the organization that still stood 12 years after she left.

In 1996, she served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, where she developed the University’s Community Service Center. In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals, first as executive director for community affairs and, beginning May 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs. She continued to hold the University of Chicago Hospitals position during the primary campaign, but cut back to part time in order to spend time with her daughters as well as work for her husband’s election; she subsequently took a leave of absence from her job. According to the couple’s 2006 income tax return, her salary was $273,618 from the University of Chicago Hospitals, while her husband had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate. The Obamas’ total income, however, was $991,296, which included $51,200 she earned as a member of the board of directors of TreeHouse Foods, and investments and royalties from his books.

She served as a salaried board member of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (), a major Wal-Mart supplier with whom she cut ties immediately after her husband made comments critical of Wal-Mart at an AFL-CIO forum in Trenton, New Jersey, on May 14, 2007. She serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

2008 Presidential election

Although Obama has campaigned on her husband’s behalf since early in his political career by handshaking and fund-raising, she did not relish the activity at first. When she campaigned during her husband’s 2000 run for United States House of Representatives, her boss at the University of Chicago asked if there was any single thing about campaigning that she enjoyed; after some thought, she replied that visiting so many living rooms had given her some new decorating ideas.

At first, Obama had reservations about her husband’s presidential campaign, due to fears about a possible negative effect on their daughters. She says that she negotiated an agreement in which her husband was to give up smoking in exchange for her support of his decision to run. About her role in her husband’s presidential campaign she has said: “My job is not a senior adviser.” During the campaign, she has discussed race and education by using motherhood as a framework.

In May 2007, three months after her husband declared his presidential candidacy, she reduced her professional responsibilities by 80 percent to support his presidential campaign. Early in the campaign, she had limited involvement in which she traveled to political events only two days a week and traveled overnight only if their daughters could come along; by early February 2008 her participation had increased significantly, attending thirty-three events in eight days. She made several campaign appearances with Oprah Winfrey. She wrote her own stump speeches for her husband’s presidential campaign and generally spoke without notes.

Throughout the campaign, the media often labeled her as an “angry black woman,” and some Web sites attempted to propagate this image, prompting her to respond: “Barack and I have been in the public eye for many years now, and we’ve developed a thick skin along the way. When you’re out campaigning, there will always be criticism. I just take it in stride, and at the end of the day, I know that it comes with the territory.” By the time of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in August, media outlets observed that her presence on the campaign trail had grown softer than at the start of the race, focusing on soliciting concerns and empathizing with the audience rather than throwing down challenges to them, and giving interviews to shows like The View and publications like Ladies’ Home Journal rather than appearing on news programs. The change was even reflected in her fashion choices, wearing more informal clothes in place of her previous designer pieces. The View appearance was partly intended to help soften her public image, and it was widely-covered in the press.

The presidential campaign was her first exposure to the national political scene; even before the field of Democratic candidates was narrowed to two, she was considered the least famous of the candidates’ spouses. Early in the campaign, she told anecdotes about the Obama family life; however, as the press began to emphasize her sarcasm, she toned it down. New York Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd wrote: }}

On the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Craig Robinson introduced his younger sister. She delivered her speech, during which she sought to portray herself and her family as the embodiment of the American Dream. Obama said both she and her husband believed “that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, and you do what you say you’re going to do, that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.” She also emphasized loving her country, in response to criticism for her previous statements about feeling proud of her country for the first time. That keynote address was largely well received and drew mostly positive reviews. A Rasmussen Reports poll found that her favorability among Americans reached 55%.

On an October 6, 2008 broadcast, Larry King asked her if the American electorate was past the Bradley effect. She stated that her husband’s achievement of the nomination was a fairly strong indicator that it was. The same night she also was interviewed by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show where she deflected criticism of her husband and his campaign. On Fox News’ America’s Pulse, E. D. Hill referred to the fist bump shared by the Obamas on the night that he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination as a “terrorist fist jab”; Hill was taken off air and the show itself was cancelled.

First Lady of the United States

Public image and style

With the ascent of her husband as a prominent national politician, Michelle Obama has become a part of popular culture. In May 2006, Essence listed her among “25 of the World’s Most Inspiring Women.” In July 2007, Vanity Fair listed her among “10 of the World’s Best Dressed People.” She was an honorary guest at Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball as a “young’un” paying tribute to the ‘Legends,’ which helped pave the way for African American Women. In September 2007, 02138 magazine listed her 58th of ‘The Harvard 100′; a list of the prior year’s most influential Harvard alumni. Her husband was ranked fourth. In July 2008, she made a repeat appearance on the Vanity Fair international best dressed list. She also appeared on the 2008 People list of best-dressed women and was praised by the magazine for her “classic and confident” look.

At the time of her husband’s election, some sources anticipated that as a high-profile African-American woman in a stable marriage she would be a positive role model who would influence the view the world has of African-Americans. Her fashion choices were part of the 2009 Fashion week, but Obama’s influence in the field did not have the impact on the paucity of African-American models who participate, that some thought it might.

She has been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy due to her sense of style, and also to Barbara Bush for her discipline and decorum. Her white, one-shoulder Jason Wu 2009 inaugural gown was said to be “an unlikely combination of Nancy Reagan and Jackie Kennedy”. Obama’s style is described as populist. She often wears clothes by designers Calvin Klein, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Donna Ricco and Maria Pinto, and has become a fashion trendsetter, in particular her favoring of sleeveless dresses that showcase her toned arms.

She appeared on the cover and in a photo spread in the March 2009 issue of Vogue. Every First Lady since Lou Hoover (except Bess Truman) has been in Vogue, but only Hillary Clinton had previously appeared on the cover.

The media have been criticized for focusing more on the first lady’s fashion sense than her serious contributions. She has stated that she would like to focus attention as First Lady on issues of concern to military and working families. U.S.News & World Report blogger, PBS host and Scripps Howard columnist Bonnie Erbe has argued that Obama’s own publicists seem to be feeding the emphasis on style over substance. Erbe has stated on several occasions that she is miscasting herself by overemphasizing style.

Work undertaken and causes promoted

During her early months as First Lady, she visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens. She also sent representatives to schools and advocated public service. On her first trip abroad in April 2009, she toured a cancer ward with Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She has begun advocating on behalf of military families. Like her predecessors Clinton and Bush, who supported the organic movement by instructing the White House kitchens to buy organic food, Obama has received attention by planting an organic garden and installing bee hives on the South Lawn of the White House, which will supply organic produce and honey to the First Family and for state dinners and other official gatherings.

Obama has become an advocate of her husband’s policy priorities by promoting bills that support it. Following the enactment of the Pay equity law, Obama hosted a White House reception for women’s rights advocates in celebration. She has pronounced her support for the economic stimulus bill in visits to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and United States Department of Education. Some observers have looked favorably upon her legislative activities, while others have said that she should be less involved in politics. According to her representatives, she intends to visit all United States Cabinet-level agencies in order to get acquainted with Washington.

She gained growing public support in her early months as first lady. She is notable for her support from military families and some Republicans. As the public is growing accustomed to her, she is becoming more accepted as a role model. Newsweek described her first trip abroad as an exhibition of her so-called “star power” and MSN described it as a display of sartorial elegance. There were questions raised in the American and British media regarding protocol when the Obamas met Queen Elizabeth II, and Michelle reciprocated a touch on her back by the Queen during a reception, purportedly against traditional royal etiquette. Palace sources denied that any breach in etiquette had occurred.

On June 5, 2009, the White House announced that Michelle Obama was replacing her current chief of staff, Jackie Norris, with Susan Sher, a longtime friend and adviser. Norris will become a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service. Then in February 2010, the resignation of White House Social Secretary, Desiree Rogers was announced to be effective the following month. Rogers had been at odds with other administration officials, such as David Axelrod, and then the White House State Dinner faux pas occurred on November 24, 2009. Rogers was replaced by Julianna Smoot.

After a year as First Lady, she undertook her first lead role in an administrationwide initiative. Her goal was to make progress in reversing the 21st century trend of childhood obesity. She stated that her goal is to make this effort her legacy: “I want to leave something behind that we can say, ‘Because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.’ And my hope is that that’s going to be in the area of childhood obesity.” She has named the movement “Let’s Move!“. This effort does not supplant her other efforts: supporting military families, helping working women balance career and family, encouraging national service, promoting the arts and arts education, and fostering healthy eating and healthy living for children and families across the country. She has earned widespread publicity on the topic of healthy eating by planting the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady.

References

Further reading

External links

Category:1964 births
Category:African American history
Category:African American female lawyers
Category:First Ladies of the United States
Category:Harvard Law School alumni
Category:Illinois Democrats
Category:Illinois lawyers
Category:Living people
Category:Obama family
Category:People from Chicago, Illinois
Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Spouses of Illinois politicians
Category:Spouses of United States Senators
Category:United Church of Christ members
Category:Whitney M. Young Magnet High School alumni
Category:Women in Illinois politics

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zh-min-nan:Michelle Obama
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yi:מישעל אבאמא
yo:Michelle Obama
zh-yue:米歇爾
zh:米歇爾·奧巴馬

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If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page.

3. Third Party Advertisers

The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com.

4. Business Transfers

As we continue to develop our business, we might sell certain aspects of our entities or assets. In such transactions, user information, including personally identifiable information, generally is one of the transferred business assets, and by submitting your personal information on Wn.com you agree that your data may be transferred to such parties in these circumstances.

Original post by WN.com – Top English Stories

The World News (WN) Network, has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to user privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for wn.com, as well as e-mail newsletters.

1. Personal Information Collection and Use

We do not collect personally identifiable information about you, except when you provide it to us. For example, if you submit an inquiry to us or sign up for our newsletter, you may be asked to provide certain information such as your contact details (name, e-mail address, mailing address, etc.).

When you submit your personally identifiable information through wn.com, you are giving your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you would prefer that we not collect any personally identifiable information from you, please do not provide us with any such information. We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to third parties without your consent, except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy.

Except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we will use the information you provide us only for the purpose of responding to your inquiry or in connection with the service for which you provided such information. We may forward your contact information and inquiry to our affiliates and other divisions of our company that we feel can best address your inquiry or provide you with the requested service. We may also use the information you provide in aggregate form for internal business purposes, such as generating statistics and developing marketing plans. We may share or transfer such non-personally identifiable information with or to our affiliates, licensees, agents and partners.

We may retain other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Such third parties may be provided with access to personally identifiable information needed to perform their functions, but may not use such information for any other purpose.

In addition, we may disclose any information, including personally identifiable information, we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal proceeding or governmental request.

2. E-mail addresses

We do not want you to receive unwanted e-mail from us. We try to make it easy to opt-out of any service you have asked to receive. If you sign-up to our e-mail newsletters we do not sell, exchange or give your e-mail address to a third party.

E-mail addresses are collected via the wn.com web site. Users have to physically opt-in to receive the wn.com newsletter and a verification e-mail is sent. wn.com is clearly and conspicuously named at the point of

collection.

If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by e-mailing us at michaelw(at)wn.com

The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during registration and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure, however. Therefore, though we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

If we decide to change our e-mail practices, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we think appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page.

3. Third Party Advertisers

The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com.

4. Business Transfers

As we continue to develop our business, we might sell certain aspects of our entities or assets. In such transactions, user information, including personally identifiable information, generally is one of the transferred business assets, and by submitting your personal information on Wn.com you agree that your data may be transferred to such parties in these circumstances.

Original post by WN.com – Top English Stories