A couple of years ago The Sun newspaper revealed, in true Sun style, that British women have pre-conceptions about men called Dave. Apparently 1,000 women were surveyed and most of them seemed to think that men called Dave were the best endowed in the trouser department! This made me smile when I heard that Samantha Cameron had been talking for the first time about her man, Dave. That is Dave, the leader of the Tory party and potentially the next prime minister of Britain. I was so intrigued I had to watch the whole Trevor McDonald meets David Cameron (and wife) interview on the iplayer.
I have discussed it with women friends and David Cameron is the least likely ‘Dave’ we have ever known. Whilst not wishing to cast aspersions on his manhood, he is just so not a Dave. I have known plenty of men called Dave in my life: Dave the plumber, Dave the football coach, Dave the sociology teacher, Dave the IT man, Dave the neighbour and my favourite Dave of all time: David Beckham. But David Beckham doesn’t really count; I have never heard anyone ever call him Dave, not even his wife. Cameron is not one of the great Dave brigade. I don’t believe that men who go to Eton and Oxford are ever called Dave.
If he is Dave, she must be Sam but it just isn’t right. When she was talking about the man who is probably going to be the next prime minister, she made him sound like some ordinary bloke next door. In fact she made him sound very much like my husband, who is definitely not called Dave (his name didn’t feature in the survey, in case you were wondering). Sam said: “He’s definitely not perfect. Like any husband, he has irritating habits.” (That was the most convincing thing she said). “One of the brilliant things about him is he loves cooking. But he makes a terrible mess. He’s not very good at clearing up. He’s not very good at picking up his clothes. He’s a terrible channel flicker.” Apparently he also loves watching cowboy films and The Godfather and playing with the kids. Amazing! Either Sam is married to my husband or my husband is actually the leader of the Tory Party.
Perhaps all men are the same, physical attributes aside. After all, what’s in a name? I am not sure I have ever met a man who doesn’t leave his clothes on the floor and channel hop on the TV. The only ones who don’t do that are probably autistic. But, entertaining as it all was, I am yet to be convinced that I should vote for a man called Dave…
