As he sets out his programme in the Queen's Speech, do we know what David Cameron really stands for?

His attacks on the public sector, on disabled people, and young people are entirely ideologically driven: he has just been exceptional at hiding it

Prime Minister David Cameron (Reuters)

Six years David Cameron has been our Prime Minister. Eleven years he has been the leader of the Conservative Party. But, what do we really know about his vision for Britain? We have seen two general elections come and go, and have seen a staggering number of vacuous manifesto promises made and subsequently broken.

I have spent a long time pondering what Cameron actually stands for, or against, and it is extremely difficult to ascertain. Is he a ‘one nation’ Disraeli, a ‘compassionate conservative’, a small state Thatcherite? A mixture of all three? As he remodels Britain into a hangover of the worst of the 1980s, what is Dave striving for, aside from a seat in the House of Lords?

He appears to stand for nothing; to be prepared to say, literally, whatever it takes to maintain the affections of the millions of ‘silent Tories’ who put, and keep him, in Number 10. You can see it in his eyes when asked a question: frantically running answers through a focus group of middle England. If he can’t think of the perfect sound bite, he just says nothing. It is no surprise that the one job he had outside politics was in PR. Saying this, has he really managed to maintain his position through nothing more than plastic politics?

Cameron is an extraordinary reflection of what politicians are capable of getting away with when avenues of accountability are failing. Even when questioned and pressed at PMQs, Cameron still has no qualms about not answering the question. He doesn’t even bother with his famous prep ring binder anymore.

We can, certainly, deduct from the last decade of Cameron’s political life is that he knows how to take advantage of a photo opportunity. It’s like there’s a voice inside his head which screams “look like a normal person, David”, and he springs into action. His pollsters told him before the general election that he didn’t look passionate enough, so he suddenly appeared later that day in a car park with his sleeves rolled up, exclaiming he was ‘pumped up’. The only thing I have seen him get pumped up about is Jeremy Corbyn’s clothing.

If you haven’t seen him in action, have a search on YouTube of him awkwardly perfecting his pout before a TV interview, or walking off immediately after making a statement to avoid questions. Or, enjoy the clip of him at a hospital, effortlessly ensuring the camera picks up his ‘England supporter’ wristband. All of this pre-election pandering would be funny, if he wasn’t now the Prime Minister. Now he does it with our economy, our politics and our future. Now it’s about truth, integrity and principle.

One day Cameron is hugging a huskie, and then blaming increased energy prices on “all the green crap”. Next, he is accidently claiming to be a West Ham fan, then blaming it on flying over the their stadium in a helicopter and getting confused. His latest slip-up: getting caught laughing about how “fantastically corrupt” Nigeria and Afghanistan are. You can’t help but wonder what on earth he actually thinks about, well, everything.

His cringe worthy conversations of last week show just how slippery Cameron has become. He has presented himself as a Teflon-Tory; nothing sticks, but he is a highly intelligent, shrewd, political schemer. His attacks on the public sector, on disabled people, and young people are entirely ideologically driven. He has just been exceptional at hiding that reality.

The electorate have been taken in by his image of a modern Conservative, but he has never made it clear what on earth that means. His slogans have all worked: ‘all in it together’, ‘fixing the roof whilst the sun is shining’, ‘long-term economic plan’. They are all utter nonsense, and yet are working a treat. Just because someone with a posh accent and a nice tie is saying it, it doesn't make it true.

By 2020, avoiding a major political shift, Cameron will have been Prime Minister for as long as Tony Blair, and Margaret Thatcher, and longer than Sir Winston Churchill, and Clement Atlee. You might not agree with all those figures’ politics, but at least you knew what they stood for. They seemed to have understood a political maxim Cameron could learn from: tell the electorate what you believe in and they will vote for you, or not. Then you don’t need a spin-doctor; the electorate know what they are getting.

One day I hope, we will laugh at Britain’s staggering reliance on Eton and Oxford for our pool of entirely detached Cabinet. But, whilst people like squeaky clean Cameron continue to play PR with our politics, we have no chance of seeing the wood through the trees.