THE contest to become the next Conservative leader is becoming more curious by the day.

It is currently led by David Davis, a man few people appear to like, who has little support in the media and, given his conference performance, would be blown away at the Despatch Box by Messrs Blair and/or Brown.

In the country, the most popular candidate is Ken Clarke. He would certainly bruise the Labour leadership, but he has any number of flaws which appear fatal to his chances: his previously pro-European stance, his pro-tobacco links and even his age.

At the bottom of the pile is Dr Liam Fox. Dr Fox is a dark horse. He seems to be veering further to the right by the day, but given the Tories' penchant for selecting rank outsiders - witness William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith - he must feel he has a strange chance.

The most curious of all is the young contender, David Cameron. One speech to party conference and he is transformed into the greatest thing since Margaret Thatcher. The elderly membership is said to be suffering from "Cameronmania" as it swoons at his youthful feet. Psychologists reckon that, like Tony Blair in 1994, he has seduced the Tory party. But this is unfair on Mr Blair - he had, at least, spent 11 years working with Neil Kinnock and John Smith in modernising Labour. It was clear in which direction Mr Blair would take the party, even though he had not articulated exactly how far he would take it.

By contrast, Mr Cameron has said nothing. Even after last night's Question Time from Stanley, we still don't know what he believes in. We barely know which wing of the party he represents - although judging by both his support and his Etonian past, we may guess that it is not the liberal left.

His charm is that he is young and nice and has yet to upset anyone - although his evasion about whether he tried cannabis as a student has won him few new friends.

Is that enough? Surely there must be some substance behind that winning smile.