Cameron David1966

British politician, elected Leader of the Conservative Party in December 2005 and the leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom since 4 December 2005. Following seven years as Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications, being described as "board material" by the company chairman, his first candidacy for Parliament in 1997 ended in defeat. However, he was elected as Member of Parliament in 2001, for the Oxfordshire constituency of Witney and he assumed office June 7, 2001 with a 14,156 vote majority, or 26 percent of the vote. He was promoted to the Opposition front bench two years after entering Parliament and rose to head the policy coordination during the 2005 general election campaign. He won the Conservative leadership later in 2005 and his leadership has seen the Conservative Party establish a lead in opinion polls. Although born in London, Cameron was raised at Peasemore, near Newbury in Berkshire, son of a stockbroker, Ian Donald Cameron, and Mary Fleur Mount, daughter of Sir William Malcolm Mount, 2nd baronet. His father was born in Blairmore House, Aberdeenshire, Scotland built by his maternal grandfather, Alexander Geddes, who returned to Scotland in the 1880s after having made a fortune in the grain business in Chicago. His fathers family had a long history in finance throughout the world in the 20th century. He is a direct descendant of King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan, and thus 5th cousin, twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II through his fathers maternal grandmother Stephanie Levita. Cameron was educated at Eton College, and did well at the interview for admission to Oxford, and to Brasenose College within Oxford, his first choice. He became captain of the Brasenose tennis team and a member of the student dining society, the Bullingdon Club whose drinking culture was known for damaging property in private rooms hired out to the club. He graduated in 1988 with a first class honors degree. He and Samantha Sheffield married June 1, 1996, and their first child Ivan Reginald Ian was born April 8, 2002, and had a severe case of epilepsy and cerebral palsy. When informed of the news of his sons illnesses, Cameron said "You are depressed for a while because you are grieving for the difference between hopes and reality. But then you get over that because he is wonderful!" They also have a daughter Nancy Gwendoline (born January 19, 2004) and another son Arthur Elwen (born February 14, 2006). Cameron took paternity leave when Arthur was born, a decision that received broad news coverage. After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department from 1988 to 1992. In August 1991 he was tapped to follow Judith Chaplin as political secretary to the Prime Minister. However he lost out in March 1992 to Jonathan Hill and he was given the responsibility for briefing John Major for his 1992 general election press conferences. The Conservatives unexpected success in the 1992 election led Cameron to hit back at critics, and he was awarded with being Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont. Lamont fell out of favor with John Major and the public after an economic crisis called Black Wednesday forced the Pound sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. After Lamont was sacked, Cameron was recruited by Home Secretary Michael Howard. In July 1994, Cameron left his Special Adviser role to work as Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communication, a growing Read less