Does David have the X-factor?

DAVID Cameron's tall, angular frame is uncomfortably scrunched up in the front of a small Ford, his pointy knees practically picking his ears. The rain lashes down out of a leaden grey sky and pounds against the windscreen as the A66 threads its way through Middlesbrough's unprepossessing industrial quarters and on anonymously towards the outskirts of Darlington.

"This is a fantastic place to live," says Mr Cameron, as if he expects a magical rainbow to break out from behind the clouds. "I believe being a British citizen is winning first prize in the lottery of life. We have great universities, brilliant inventors, wonderful culture...

"We are not going to hell in a handcart. I don't want to be Victor Meldrew saying this is a miserable place.

"But it could be even better. If we got education right with proper rigour and standards, and schools that were proud, independent institutions; if you had a health service that wasn't quite such a monolith that had hospitals that were free to specialise and do their own thing within the NHS, if we set our businesses free - instead of regulating them to death - to create the wealth and jobs we need, this country would be even better."

Middlesbrough and Ray Mallon left behind, the A66 momentarily meanders into the Sedgefield constituency, the place which has elected Tony Blair since 1983. The Tony Blair then and the David Cameron now are similar people: both big, impressive young men who literally fill the room (and certainly the car), they have a bold certainty about them and an exhausting vigour that is carrying them onwards and upwards.

It is said that Mr Cameron once described himself as "the heir to Blair" - a phrase he doesn't deny as the A66 spray parts to allow a glimpse of a green Sedgefield pasture.

"What I meant was the Conservative Party has got to learn that it has lost three elections in a row," he says, "and just as Tony Blair understood what Mrs Thatcher had done to change Britain, we need to understand what has changed in the last eight years.

"I don't want to turn the clock back to 1997. Let's take the extra money that has been invested in health and education and make sure it is not wasted. Let's take ideas like city academies and foundation hospitals and make them really work with real independence and autonomy rather than endless bossy targets.

"I think this is the politics of positive optimistic creation rather than of depressing backward-looking destruction."

Mr Cameron, 38, entered the race to become party leader as a rank outsider. But now he is the clear favourite to beat David Davis in the two horse run-in. The country's 300,000 party members are about to vote, and yesterday Mr Cameron visited Ray Mallon to rally support in the North-East. Perhaps the final fence he has to overcome is that he is such an unknown that no-one knows what he stands for.

On the A66, shouting above the rain on his way to catch a train at Darlington, this is Cameron condensed:

Tax cuts

'I say share the proceeds of economic growth between tax reduction, which is necessary, not to reward the rich but to make the economy competitive, and better public services. This Government doesn't understand the concept of sharing.

Terrorism

'I do think we need to tighten anti-terrorism laws but 90 days detention is too long. It isn't 90 days that the police are insisting upon but some extension of the current 14 days so they can deal with the very real threat from suicide bombers. We need to get the balance right: a mixture of judicial oversight and a slightly shorter period of time.

Smoking

'I'm a libertarian, not in favour of bans, but I would like to see all bars have smokefree areas. The Government's partial ban is probably worse because if you are a pub that has been trying to get a food business going you are probably going to scrap it and go back to being a smokers' den. That will only make health inequalities worse.

Secondary education

'The Government's White Paper is a timid measure. It doesn't go far enough in terms of real school autonomy but even the limited autonomy it is giving schools is better than nothing, so I will persuade the party to support it.

Regionalisation

'I think it is a bad thing. People like structures of government that they can relate to, like their local councils. The regions are a fairly false construct.

North/South Divide

'It's an out-dated view. There are areas in the North that get left behind in terms of the economy and public services just as there are in the South. Politicians have to make sure they do more to stop that happening.

Pensions

'We are not saving enough as a country for our old age. We need a strong basic state pension and simple saving schemes that encourage people to save but we shouldn't rule out compulsion (to make people save).

Can an old Etonian understand Easington, one of the most deprived areas of the country?

'What matters is not where you are from but are you a good listener, a fast learner, do you know what needs to be done? I don't think it's the background that matters, but where we are all going.

Police

'Have a local superintendent in charge of the local government area to get a real working together of the council, businesses, police etc to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. A directly-elected police commissioner would replace the police authority: he would be the single voice by which the public transmits to the police the sort of policing they want, like Ray Mallon.

Global warming

'A vitally important issue. We can have all the policies we like on crime, health, education but if we don't do more to safeguard the future of our planet, it won't make much sense. All parties agree we need targets to reduce carbon emissions but I want to take it a step further and actually reduce those emissions: transport, housing, business, all have to make a contribution.

Europe

'I want to fight for a Europe that is more about nation states trading and co-operating with each other, one that's not about ever closer union. As other countries come into the EU it will become more like the one we want to have, one that allows businesses to compete with the rest of the world which is why we must take back control of social and employment legislation which is imposed by Europe and is making us uncompetitive.

Military action against Iran

'It is not on the agenda. Iran is not behaving like a member of the United Nations and consequences should follow. The international community should completely condemn what the Iranian government has said about wiping another country off the face of the world, and there need to be UN resolutions looking at sanctions and other things to make sure the Iranian government sees this sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable.

Have you voted for Stockton's Journey South on X-Factor?

'I haven't been following X-Factor with the closeness it almost certainly merits. I did once vote during Pop Idol for Will Young. I should have voted for Derek (Laud) in Big Brother because he's a friend of mine, but I didn't get round to it. My focus on voting is rather more parochial at the moment: it's on the 300,000 people who can vote in the Conservative leadership election. I don't want them to be distracted by voting on X-Factor.