Cameron: I used to drink too much
By politics.co.uk staff
David Cameron has followed in the well worn footsteps of his predecessor William Hague, by filling the media in on his drinking habits when he was a teenager.
Giving a highly personal interview to women’s magazine Grazia, the Tory leader portrayed his Eton years in rebellious terms.
“When I was 14, 15, 16, I was doing things that teenagers do in terms of drinking too much, being caught having the odd fag, things like that,” he said.
“I didn’t do particularly well in my O-levels but I was fortunate enough that 16 was a turning point for me.
“I was, in some ways, heading in the wrong direction and I pulled myself up and headed in the right one.”
Mr Cameron also discussed the death of his son and how it had affected him.
“So much of our life was arranged around Ivan, the void is immense,” he said.
“But also, you are suddenly able to do things you couldn’t do before, like walk across a muddy field perhaps and you find yourself there quickly and it’s like ‘oh here we are’ followed by a feeling of guilt because you’re having a good time and he’s not there.”
He also discussed his wife, and how she helped him formulate his political ideas.
The interview comes as a Guardian/ICM poll showed the party losing support among women, even as it clearly led Labour overall.
The result contradicted expectations at the start of Mr Cameron’s tenure as leader. Analysts presume the talk of cuts turns off women voters more than men.
