Cerebral Palsy

He has also sought to benefit from his serious reputation by belittling Britain's glib, celebrity culture - drawing a line between him and former public relations man Cameron.

"It is a remarkable culture where people appear on television and are famous simply for the act of appearing on television," he said in an interview in April.

Cameron, 40, is admired as an effective communicator but waverers still await solid policy initiatives before the next election, expected in 2009.

An urbane and self-confident product of Britain's most exclusive private school Eton, Cameron insists "character is far more important than policy".

"I am distrustful of the grand plan.

It's not me," says Cameron in a far cry from the conviction politics of Margaret Thatcher who changed Britain and kept the Labour party out of power for 18 years.

So who is winning the branding war?

For Max Clifford, Britain's leading public relations guru, the jury is still out.

"Most of the Conservatives I know see Cameron as someone who is inventing himself as he goes along.

With Thatcher you knew what you were getting," he said.

"Gordon Brown is certainly not someone you warm to from a personality point of view.

But in most people's eyes he ha...

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