Because he's worth it

David Cameron, leader of the opposition and shoe-in for PM by May, has kicked off his election campaign with a poster in which he just looks a little... well, smooth.


In other words, someone's cracked out Photoshop and made himself all purdy.

The Conservative Party said that they could not rule out "minor retouching", and DC himself was questioned on the matter on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The photos of you on the big ads ... a lot of people say [they look] a bit weird. You wouldn't airbrush a photo of yourself, would you?" The Tory leader laughed and said "I certainly hope not!", before saying he had had a "ribbing" from friends and family about the poster, which has been on 759 billboards around the country.

But what about airbrushing? "Look, I don't produce the picture or the poster but what I do produce is on the poster, which is [our promise that] we will cut the deficit and not the NHS," said Cameron. So that's a yes, then.

And there's no denying that his visage yesterday (right) seemed a little more wrinkled than the poster would have us believe.

But who cares. Blair did it, and so long as he steers clear of Berlusconi-style facelifts and outright manipulations a la Sarkozy (c'est pathétique, non?), I think the guy is allowed a little polishing. Or make-up. Or whatever it is.

After all, even Mr Christopher's marvellous mug would struggle to look good on a 20ft billboard.