Quick Impact in the UK

It was expected that the leadership change would give the UK Conservatives a boost in the opinion polls, but it seems to have come earlier and stronger than most expected.

An opinion poll in the Sunday Telegraph today puts the Cameron Conservatives ahead of Labour and on levels where they haven't been for more than a decade. And there is another one in The Sunday Times with more or less the same result.

"We seem to be at the dawn of a new era. There is much work to be done but this is a great start", said the Party Chairman Francis Maude.

A good start it certainly is. And the fact that the appeal of the possible Blair successor Gordon Brown looks like declining adds to it.

Much certainly much work to be done. The Cameron approach so far is stronger on style than on substance.

And on the important European issue, he has started by creating a major mess for himself, his party and his European friends.

Telegraph | News | Cameron's election gives Tories lead over Labour