James Wilmore: Can we trust Cameron and Clegg on pubs?

David Cameron and Nick Clegg are both 43, are both privately educated and both have young children.

Similar backgrounds then, but the question for everyone in the trade is: do they care about pubs?

As yesterday's extraordinary events unfolded, it dawned on me that in the past two years I had interviewed both our new Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, about our beloved trade.

Aside from policies, what did I pick up from these encounters? Are they genuine pub people, or just PR-savvy political operators who know the right thing to say at the right time?

Let's take Cameron first.

When I came face-to-face with him at a pub in his Witney constituency in 2008, the first thing that struck me was he had come to his local pub for a low-key event, on his own.

No PR attack dog, no assistant, just him on his Jack Jones.

This wouldn't happen now, of course, but he was leader of the opposition at the time. The other thing that struck me was his immaculate turn-out, probably an ingrained thing from his days at Eton - but it definitely put me in my crumpled shirt to shame.

When it came to our interview​ which lasted 20 minutes, he was confident, intelligent and well briefed. His seven years as a PR man for broadcaster Carlton had clearly held him in good stead in dealing with the media.

On pub matters, he claimed to have been to "most" of them in his constituency, which includes 85 parishes.

He boasted that he loved drinking real ale in pubs - Sharp's Doom Bar was a particular favourite - and he liked "family friendly" venues.

One quibble, as I read back on the interview now, is this problem of detail, which has been an accusation levelled at him on wider issues. Cameron is clearly keen on promoting the idea of "personal responsibility" which he stressed in the interview.

He said: "What we want is a continental social drinking culture. But you don't get there just by changing the law, or increasing taxes, you get there by a big cultural change."

Sounds nice on paper, but how do you argue that when you have the health lobby breathing down your neck to get tough on booze?

My other concern was his ease at flicking his internal switch from passionate concerned pub-goer, to vote-grabbing politician appeared scarily slick.

As the interview drew to close, I mentioned the beer we were drinking - Timothy Taylor's Landlord - was brewed in Keighley, West Yorkshire. "Ah, Keighley, that's a key marginal seat, I must remember that," he fired back.

My interview with Nick Clegg​ was less memorable - not helped by the fact it was not in a pub.

I asked for it to be in a pub, but Clegg's people did not seem keen on that.

Again, the Liberal Democrat leader talked the talk very well and appeared very knowledgable about the industry. In fact, his criticism on the pubco model even provoked a defensive response from Enterprise Inns chief Ted Tuppen.

And even during this interview he cleverly referred to his own personal experience of meeting licensees, to show he understood the problems.

But there was little evidence of a strong personality.

Now the chances of Clegg or Cameron walking into a pub to enjoy a quiet pint have evaporated.

And the issues and opportunities facing the trade will be well down their list of priorities. But let's hope they are not just all talk when it comes to pubs. Watch this space.