by RAY FLEMING
IT is two years since David Cameron first came to public notice as a potential leader of the Conservative Party by delivering a carefully considered and crafted speech at the Conservative Party Conference. But when he speaks at this year's Conference he will do so knowing that in the short span of twenty months he has greatly disappointed expectations, both in the party and the country at large.
Yesterday's Guardian/ICM poll showed Mr Cameron to be the least popular party leader, trailing a long way behind Gordon Brown and, even, some way behind Ming Campbell. Only 37% of all voters said they are satisfied with the way he is doing his job while 45% claimed to be dissatisfied; the comparable figures for Mr Brown were 55% and 23%. In the jargon of the pollsters, Gordon Brown has a net positive rating of 32 points while David Cameron has a net negative rating of eight points. Even looking at the opinions of Conservative supporters, Cameron has a net positive rating of only 25 points, compared to Brown's 73 positive points rating among Labour voters.
These are terrible indicators for Mr Cameron and his party and they are made worse by the ICM's finding that Labour with 40 per cent approval from voters has an eight point lead over the Conservatives, good enough for an increased majority of almost 400 seats. David Cameron and his team have a mountain to climb at their Conference this year.