Does This Sound Familiar?

Britain's Conservative Party (also called the Tories) elected a new leader, David Cameron. He will be going up against Gordon Brown, who is replacing Tony Blair as the leader of the Labour Party. Blair has said he is stepping down in May.

Cameron says the party must revive itself with "modern compassionate Conservatism." But don't let that fool you, as he listed his immediate, broad platform:

...creating a full-bodied economic policy which went beyond just tax; giving freedom to those on the frontline in public services; national and international security; and ensuring social justice by strengthening the voluntary sector.

Sounds vaguely Bush-like, doesn't it. You have to wonder just how much he's modelling himself after the American President. On the other hand, it's important to remember that other Anglo-sphere conservative parties aren't nearly as far to the right as the American Republican Party. Most accept openly the idea of the social welfare system and an intrusive government.

On the gripping hand (ie. the third hand, for those of you who aren't Larry Niven fans), America doesn't have the same kind of far-far-right, nationalist parties like England, France and Germany, the true neo-Nazi parties.

Most election watchers in England still favor Labour to win handily, but it will be fun and informative to see how well Cameron does in the next six months.