Cameron's conservatism is dead, but that is not to say both the Coalition and his short administration achieved a lot. For example, academies and free schools have improved education standards, more people pay less tax now than they did under the last Labour government, the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 paved the way for a modern NHS and the deficit is much smaller than it was in 2010, with unemployment down and growth up. However, that does not escape the fact Cameronism has died a slow death.
Yet the central tenets of Cameronite conservatism, which consist of the 'Big Society', austerity and remaining a member of a reformed EU, died in between 2016-17.
Brexit destroyed the former Tory leader's brand of conservatism. But since Theresa May came to power, she has shifted the party further to the left, to the extent that she called a General Election this year for her own mandate. With her authority diminished since, it is clear both the Conservative Party and the country have grown tired of centrist conservatism.
To be fair to the former prime minister, he was right to promote austerity. How could Britain go on spending reckless amounts of money in the wake of the worst recession since the Second World War? But there lied the first nail in Cameron's coffin. Prior to 2008, the Conservatives promised to match New Labour's spending levels. This contradiction contributed towards their failure to achieve a majority in 2010, as the majority of voters were then confused about what Cameronism stood for.
The Coalition implemented a range of measures that eased the burden of austerity on the majority of people; cutting income tax, freezing fuel duty and providing councils with the freedom to freeze council tax. By 2015, enough voters provided Cameron with a majority partly as a result of these policies.
However, these achievements were not enough to convince waves of people the Conservatives deserved the sort of landslides they won in the 1980s.
UKIP helped deprive them of majorities during this decade by advocating Brexit, a message which appealed to swathes of former Tories. But leaving the EU did not deliver the biggest blow to the Cameron project; the housing bubble did.
'The housing crisis has painted the Tories as completely out of touch.'
The housing crisis has painted the Tories as completely out of touch on this issue, that is despite the range of schemes the Government has brought in to help young people get onto the housing market.
These include Help to Buy and shared ownership. It is impossible for a party to boast about an improving economy when so many aspiring homeowners cannot share the wealth. Cameron's biggest mistake was not advocating home ownership enough; austerity was the central message in 2010-15. With the rise of Corbyn and May flirting with the idea of ditching cutting public spending altogether, the message of eliminating the deficit has been lost. The national debt is rising at an alarming rate; abandoning austerity cannot afford to happen.
For now, the best thing the Conservatives can do is unite behind May over Brexit. Leaving the EU will provide this country with vast opportunities to accumulate more wealth.
But for whoever takes over as Tory leader, it is safe to say that whilst Cameron's few achievements mentioned earlier are safe, the same cannot be said of Cameronism. This type of conservatism failed to speak to aspiring people and traditional Tory voters. There needs to be more emphasis on growth in the future from the next Conservative leader if they are to defeat Corbyn, especially if electors lose faith in austerity.
