‘CHRIST, WHAT HAVE I DONE?’

THE 2010 election had just been called, and Cameron was itching to get out on the stump. First, however, he had to prepare for a series of TV debates between the three party leaders.

It was the first time this had been attempted on British TV, and he knew he’d have to pull out all the stops. But as the pressure mounted, Cameron grew increasingly frustrated.

After taking advice from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, George Osborne had drafted in — at vast expense — two U.S. political consultants, Bill Knapp and Anita Dunn, to coach Cameron.

A former aide recalls: ‘They spent God knows how many hundreds of hours preparing, with Jeremy Hunt [standing in] as Nick Clegg. At first, we found it interesting, because we were learning cool stuff about how Americans prepare for TV. But it’s forced, very unnatural. It went on and on and on, and he hated it.’ Cameron’s misgivings proved entirely founded during the first debate, from which Clegg emerged as the runaway winner. By contrast, the Tory leader was widely seen to have flunked it.

Later, he admitted to a confidant that, as he looked at the TV studio audience, seconds before cameras rolled, he’d thought: ‘Christ, what have I done?’

Friends say there were ‘tears’ in the Cameron home as it became apparent his exhaustive preparation had been in vain. ‘He says he didn’t sleep that night,’ recalls a friend. ‘He was lying there thinking of all the colleagues and friends who’d supported him, whose seats he’d just lost.

‘He says he was thinking of Oliver Letwin in particular, who was up against the Lib Dems in a tight marginal — and he was thinking: “I’ve just literally cost Oliver his seat.”’