Ken Clarke on David Cameron

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The Times has a valedictory interview with Ken Clarke behind its paywall today.

He says things that will please Liberal Democrats:

"I like Jo [Swinson], she’s very nice and very bright ... The Conservative Party is more right wing and the Labour Party is more left wing than at any time in my lifetime so for the Lib Dems ... this is the opportunity of a lifetime."

But I was taken by his dismissal of David Cameron:

"He had the style and presentational skills, but he could never answer the question - what does he believe in? What is he doing it for? The real answer was he was doing it because it was fun and he had risen effortlessly to the top."

And on the referendum:

"All Etonians have this terrifying self-confidence; David had always won everything in his life ... it didn’t cross his mind he’d lose."

I suppose an Old Etonian for whom everything has gone swimmingly will be likely to attribute his success to his own personal qualities rather than a happy accident of birth.