Cameron set to be named new Tory leader

David Cameron was poised to take the Tory crown today, becoming the party’s fourth leader since 1997.

Barring a huge voting upset, his victory in the longest leadership contest the Conservatives have ever held will be formally declared at about 3pm.

This morning, as he left his London home, he shrugged off questions, saying: “I’m never confident until they open those ballot boxes.”

His rival, David Davis, has been insisting he could still pull off a shock win, but his supporters are reported to have privately conceded they accept his campaign has failed.

Mr Cameron will take on Tony Blair in the Commons tomorrow at Prime Minister’s Questions, having promised not to play “Punch and Judy” politics but build a more consensual style.

It is expected that Mr Cameron will delay naming his shadow cabinet until that ritualistic battle is out of the way.

Attention will focus on what role – if any – he offers Mr Davis, the current shadow home secretary.

Mr Cameron – at 39 two years younger than Mr Blair when he became Labour leader – last night insisted he wanted to change “politics right across the board”.

Speaking at a meeting with young supporters, Mr Cameron admitted there was “no simple answer” to winning over their generation.

But he said: “Young people are completely turned off by Punch and Judy politics and cheap point-scoring. I just won’t play that game.”

The Electoral Reform Service (ERS) started counting around 200,000 postal ballot papers at 7am.

The two leadership contenders will learn the result at London’s Royal Academy after 3pm.

Some bookmakers have already paid out to punters who placed bets on Mr Cameron winning.

Mr Cameron’s campaign manager, George Osborne, last night said: “David Davis has fought a very good campaign and there is absolutely no intention to humiliate him.

“I want him, and indeed David Cameron wants him, to be a very active part of a new leadership.”

Sandra Howard, wife of outgoing leader Michael, last night became the latest Tory to endorse Mr Cameron.

Mr Howard has refused to say who he voted for despite a widespread perception that he also wants his former aide to win.

However, Mrs Howard said: “We’ve got to reach out to a whole new world which is of now and I think he (Cameron) is the right age group to reach that world.”