David Cameron takes on local lad to write his speeches

Jul 17 2008 by Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

DAVID CAMERON has picked a 22-year-old from Waterloo as his new speech writer in a bid to shed the Old Etonian image of the Tory leader’s key advisers.

The move is an extraordinary promotion for Samuel Coates – a former pupil at St Mary’s College Catholic school, Crosby, and King George V FE College, Southport – who will help craft the words of the man tipped to be Britain’s next prime minister.

Mr Cameron has plucked Mr Coates from the web pages of conservativehome.com, the key blog for Tory activists, where he has spent 18 months as deputy editor.

Conservative sources suggested the Tory leader, who has made winning back support in the likes of Liverpool a top priority, was keen to have the voice of an authentic Northerner at his side.

The source added: “There is a feeling that there are too many Old Etonians in Cameron’s circle, so David is keen to get that balance right.

“In picking Samuel, he is trying to get someone who is frank, rather than flamboyant, and who can relate to the North. Mind you, I don’t know whether he realised quite how young he is!”

Mr Coates’s parents, David and Pamela, still live in Waterloo, having met as youth workers. David helped run the Centre 63 project, which works with vulnerable young people in Kirkby.

The new speech writer, a committed Christian, attracted by Mr Cameron’s strong “social responsibility” message, worked for six months in advertising at the Daily Post and our sister paper, the Liverpool Echo. On the conservativehome blog, Mr Coates talked about the difficulty of growing up as a Conservative in Liverpool, and about why the party remains unpopular in the city.

He wrote: “I remember my primary school class being asked to walk to a certain side of the room if they supported Labour and another if Conservative.

“I was left standing on my own.”

And he added: “Liverpudlians are more tribal than most and, while there is still a feeling that the party did the city over in the ‘80s, the Conservatives won't make serious in-roads.”

robmerrick@liverpool.com