Point two. The psychobabble didn’t work. After 20 months the poll ratings remained dire. Labour was still 10 points ahead, enough for another huge electoral majority. Then Dave underwent a sea change. As an old sea angler, I have seen a few sea changes and at the end of last summer that was a real sea change.

Dave simply began talking like a Conservative. Out went “Be nice to Brown” (or blasted Toynbee!). He started to address our real problems and concerns from a Conservative standpoint.

Brown arrived, pontificating over West Country floods, foot and mouth at Pirbright, a terrorist attack in Glasgow. Then his tide started to ebb and David’s to rise.

He continued (having apparently told the psychobabblers at Tory Headshed to take a hike) to talk like a British Conservative leader. And the people liked it – not just we old Trads but the youngsters looking for something to believe in. True, the miserable ineptitude of Gordon Brown and the realisation that New Labour was, like its inventor, a sleazy con-trick “in it for itself” both helped.

But the tide has not just flowed away from Brown and Labour; it has not flowed to Clegg and the Lib Dems, it has flowed to David Cameron. But only since he started talking like a real Conservative.

The big question now is simply this. Does he mean it? Will he do it? Will he really fight for the voters against the triple-thralldom of bureaucracy, quangocracy and euro­cracy?

For 20 years we have had patronising assurances, vapid platitudes and then, after arrival in office, complete betrayal as the elected “leaders” capitulated to entrenched establish­ment arrogance.

This time we want no more betrayals. We want solid manifesto pledges; just a few but which will be honoured.

So, does David have the steel? Is there any tungsten in there behind the smile of a cheerful and affable husband and father? Could he really give this country back to its people? If he can show us he can and he intends to, I reckon he’s our next leader and David Miliband can go whistle Dixie.