Does he really know what women want?

TO SOME women he's Mr Potato Head. To others, he's sex on legs. But then David Cameron wouldn't be a politician if he didn't polarise opinion. So perhaps we shouldn't be overly surprised at the results of a survey published in this week's Grazia magazine – the glamour bible of 25 to 45-year-olds – which claims that a whopping 62 per cent of the 2,000 women surveyed would like to marry the Tory leader, and think he would be good in bed.

But Samantha Cameron needn't worry. Because instead of sidling up to her husband at cocktail parties or trying to poke him on Facebook, most of Cameron's new fans are intending to declare their love at the polling booth. A third of the women questioned say they would now vote Conservative in a general election, compared with the measly 14 per cent who currently support Labour – a substantial shift from the last general election, when 27 per cent voted for Tony Blair's government.

"It's clear the political sands are shifting," says Jane Bruton, editor of Grazia. "The women who would have once voted for Labour without a second thought now feel Cameron is more in tune with their lives."

So, given the biggest block of floating voters in the UK comprises women aged 25-45 and that, in the next general election, 91 per cent of the women surveyed are expected to vote – compared with 64 per cent of those who say they voted last time round – could it be that women will ultimately decide who next becomes our Prime Minister? But why? Just what is the Tory leader's appeal?

"When women think of David Cameron, they think of him in a friendly, stylish, messy household, making his kids' breakfast," says Bruton. "It means women can identify with him. They can imagine him being a husband or a friend. Gordon Brown has a lot of ground to make up. He's more private – but in today's society it's not enough to just see the politician. We need to see more of the man."

And with Cameron, we've seen more than most – devoted father to Ivan, Nancy and Arthur, green-aware new man who cycles to work every day and, inevitably, boxer wearer (Gordon Brown, disturbingly, wears "whatever comes to hand").

Mrs Cameron has helped build up her husband's image – refreshing his wardrobe and evening sharpening up his speeches (she is said to be something of a feminist in private) – but she has also cultivated her own, with her quiet elegance and yummy-mummy appeal.

Nearly two-thirds of the 2,000 women questioned by Grazia magazine agreed Samantha Cameron has "the best First Lady style", compared to Sarah Brown and Nick Clegg's wife, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez. All together, it adds up to an almost irresistible First Family package.

Kate Muir, the Scottish author and commentator, agrees that the Tory leader has a certain appeal, although she's not convinced that its effects are confined solely to women.

"I find that people I know of both sexes find Cameron more appealing as a politician. Not necessarily his policies, which are quite a different matter, but certainly as a person. He is infinitely easier to connect to for both sexes. There's an age gap between him and Brown – and we're bored of Brown."

Indeed, she believes that Gordon Brown's inability to connect to the electorate, particularly women, has cost him votes.

"We're much more obsessed by image and Brown, sadly, is a politician from a different era and a different world where you didn't push yourself forward in that way, but you pushed your policies forward."

Cameron has always had the charm factor. Even before he became leader, he managed to win over a group of hard-bitten Tory wives who sat to hear the various candidates set out their stalls, with one woman, whose husband was a close ally of another contender, saying afterwards: "I wasn't out to be impressed, but he made quite an impression. Fluent, articulate. I hate to admit it." And yes, he got her vote.

Of course Cameron is out to impress, and always has been. There is speculation that his team has been employing the soccer-mum method, which was first used – to great effect – in 1996 by Bill Clinton's political strategist to help him beat the dour, traditional conservative Bob Dole to the White House. The soccer mum was seen as affluent, with a liberal attitude towards government and education, therefore more likely to favour voting for the charismatic, liberal Clinton.

The Clinton campaign made him seem women-friendly, appealing to this particularly influential branch of the electorate, by highlighting his domestic role within the family and getting him to wheel out his saxophone. Unsurprisingly, it worked.

And while it may sound a flippant way for women to choose a leader, the Grazia poll bears it out, saying that women look for the same qualities in a Prime Minister as in a partner or friend. Strong morals and a sense of humour are shown as important qualities, and more than half thought the premier needs to have "charisma and sex appeal".

But perhaps all this swooning after political figures is merely because we don't have enough strong women to identify with in Westminster. While Scotland has a number of female political leaders – Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander, Scottish Conservative party leader Annabel Goldie and Nicola Sturgeon, deputy leader of the SNP – Westminster hasn't seen a female party leader since the days of Margaret Thatcher.

Maybe, then, it's not surprising that the poll also revealed women would like a British version of Hillary Clinton to identify with, and that half of the those polled declared they couldn't think of one female UK politician that they actually like.

So, if any political party really wants to capture the women's vote, then maybe they should consider putting a woman in charge. Ann Widdecombe, anybody?