Witney (UK Parliament constituency) of St Helens South instead, following the practice of Alan Howarth in 1997. At the 2001 general election, David Cameron was elected as MP for Witney. Cameron was re-elected to a fourth term as MP for the constituency at the 2015 general election with a majority of 25,155, the highest in his political career; on that occasion his Conservative Party won a surprise overall majority in the House of Commons, taking 330 seats to the opposition Labour Party's 232. However, on 24 June 2016, Cameron announced that he would resign as Prime Minister by that October due to the outcome
David Cameron Conservative Party. Before he became Conservative leader, Cameron was reportedly known to friends and family as "Dave", though his preference is "David" in public. Labour used the slogan Dave the Chameleon in their 2006 local elections party broadcast to portray Cameron as an ever-changing populist, which was criticised as negative campaigning by the conservative press including "The Telegraph", though Cameron asserted the broadcast had become his daughter's "favourite video". During the leadership election, allegations were made that Cameron had used cannabis and cocaine recreationally before becoming an MP. Pressed on this point during the BBC television programme "Question Time", Cameron