Climate Change

David Cameron's decade as Conservative Party leader

The defining moments of the Conservative leader's tenure at the top

December 07, 2015
In order to witness the effects of global warming first-hand, Cameron visits the Scott-Turner glacier in Norway in 2006. ©Andrew Parsons/Pool/PA
In order to witness the effects of global warming first-hand, Cameron visits the Scott-Turner glacier in Norway in 2006. ©Andrew Parsons/Pool/PA

David Cameron is celebrating ten years as leader of the Conservative Party. He snatched victory in the 2005 leadership election, when aged just 39 he defeated the established favourite David Davis. Elected on a message of modernisation and viewed as the Conservative's answer to Tony Blair, his party went on to win the most seats in the 2010 General Election. After five years of a surprisingly smooth-running Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, he won a majority in May 2015 and entered No. 10 for a second term, this time solo.

His reign as leader has had its headline-making moments—huskies, "green crap", protests, air strikes in the Middle East, the results of one referendum and plans for another. Here, we look at 12 events that define the career of the man who has focused on ridding the Conservatives of their "nasty party" image.

 

[gallery ids="40534,40535,40539,40540,40543,40549,40548,40551,40546,40552,40545,40555"]