David Cameron transforms himself into a man of people

Groomed by Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron, scion of a wealthy family, transformed himself into a man of people and staked his political reputation to bring his party to centrist stage to return Tories to power in UK after a 13 year wilderness.

At 43, Cameron is the youngest person to don the mantle of prime minister in Britain in more than 200 years and today with a down to earth image he is more compared to Tony Blair than his mentor Thatcher.

A media savy moderniser, Cameron who rides his bike to work prefers to be introduced just as "Call me Dave", almost akin to a guy next door.

Born into a wealthy family and educated at Eton, the alma mater of more than a dozen prime ministers and few Royals, Cameron was hampered by suspicions of his upper class upbringing, but passed his test on Tuesday night when the Queen invited him to form the new government.

Unlike Blair, who swept into Downing Street on a landslide in 1997 and stayed on for a decade, Cameron's first big push in politics came after he had to hold his nerve for five days of tensed haggling to forge a power-sharing deal with the Liberal Democrats.

It is his first brush with power, though he was a political ward of Margaret Thatcher, the new British prime minister has not even served as a minister. But must now hold together a potentially unruly coalition and grapple with Britain's record public deficit.

Cameron, reportedly a descendant of King William IV is one of the most privileged person to become prime minister since Sir Alec Douglas-Home, a Conservative earl who governed nearly half a century ago.

The new British prime minister earned a top degree to join the Tories than led by Thatcher, where he rose to become an advisor to finance minister Norman Lamont. But he left politics to spend seven years with a media company Carlton, only to return back in 2001 when he was elected to Commons from Oxford in Southern England.

His rise to head the Tory Party was swift when he replaced Michael Howard in December 2005 after the Conservatives slumped to their third defeat since 1997 at the hands of Tony Blair's Labour.

Like Blair, Cameron worked hard to change the Tories image as it was labelled a "nasty party", uncaring and out of touch with the people despite short lived efforts by leaders like William Hague who has now been named the new foreign secretary.

He modernised the Conservatives moving it from rightist platform to centrist stage in Britain by making clear breaks with the Party's past.

Under his leadership, the Party's logo was changed from a flaming torch to an eco-friendly green tree, Cameron has also softened his Party's sceptical position towards Europe and is a great crusader for strengthening Britain's National Health Service (NHS).

His yen to transform NHS comes from treatment received by his late son Ivan, who died last year from cerebral palsy.

Cameron who was on the road 24 hours straight in the final round of campaigning was joined by his wife Samantha. The couple have two children and Samantha is expecting a third one in September.

Much is not known of his views on foreign affairs except references to an early return of British forces from Afghanistan which he promised on the election trail.

His responses on issues like terrorism, immigration and ties with Asia are still shrouded in secrecy, but Cameron watchers say the new Prime Minister has a yen for Indian food and is likely to follow the existing close ties with India.