DAVID CAMERON has spoken about nappies, yoga and the joys of marriage in a blatant appeal to the middle-class mothers who will help to decide the outcome of the next general election. The Conservative leader, in an interview for Red magazine, also discusses at length the importance of his wife Sam in driving the new “caring” conservatism.

“Sam’s a brilliant mother, a wonderful wife, a fantastic businesswoman – and she juggles all those things in a way that I expect makes a lot of women in the country think, ‘Good on you’,” he said.

The interview is the latest attempt by Cameron’s strategists to exploit the “Sam factor”. The tactics borrow heavily from Tony Blair, who regularly used to target “Worcester woman” through women’s glossy magazines. The 41-year-old Tory even appears in the magazine in Blair’s trade-mark stance with a mug of tea.

Although Blair’s wife Cherie came to be seen as an electoral liability, Tory advisers regard Sam, 36, as a glamorous asset. Asked about his favourite moment, Cameron gushes: “Getting married. I have the most clear memories of bits of the wedding service 11 years ago – almost more than the first baby popping out.” And the best way to spend a weekend? “With Sam, the kids and no interruptions.”

The Tory leader reveals it was Sam who suggested that he did his 2007 conference speech without notes: “Once I convinced myself it was a good idea, she was one of those who had to listen to my ideas. Poor thing. I never did a whole run-through though because halfway through she said, ‘That’s enough’.”

Cameron has faced criticism for styling himself as the “heir to Blair”, but in the interview he makes an explicit appeal to women who once backed the former Labour prime minister.

“There is a yearning for someone who will deliver the things Blair promised,” he said.

Cameron sheds new light on the moment after a speech when he was heard on microphone telling Sam he loved her. “I was totally caught. Luckily, the mic didn’t pick up the first thing Sam said. She put her hand on my back and said, ‘Oh my God, you’re sweaty’!”

He gives a light-hearted insight into the Cameron morning routine. Asked whose is the first voice he hears when he wakes, he replied: “It’s a toss-up between Samantha and John Humphrys. I know whose I’d prefer but, because Sam often gets up early to do yoga, it’s often John Humphrys.”

Cameron has three young children – Ivan, 5, who is disabled, Nancy, 4, and Elwen, 1 – discloses how it was Sam who first turned him on to the importance of the green agenda.

“Sam was a big recycler first. The trouble is we are big waste producers because, when you have three children, there is a lot of stuff.

“We have so much medical waste with Ivan. We use disposable biodegradable nappies for Elwen. But Ivan still uses nappies, even though he is five. They don’t have biodegradable ones for him.”

Cameron also speaks about his hopes for the sort of schools his children will attend – a controversial topic after it emerged last week that George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, has chosen to send his children to private prep schools.

“I hope they’ll go to state schools,” Cameron said. “Politicians, like everyone else, should do what they think is right for their children and I think I’ve done that.

“Ivan is in a state special school in London and that seems to be going all right. Nancy is in a private nursery but will be going – fingers crossed – to a state primary. I have to make the decisions as I go along, but I’d like them to be educated in the state sector.

“You do whatever you have to do to get them that good school place. You only get one go at this. And the frustration I feel as a parent informs what I feel as a politician. There is an appalling inequality in this country between, being brutal about it, clever kids from poor homes and thick kids from rich homes. The thick kids from rich homes always do better.”

The full interview appears in the March issue of Red magazine, on sale tomorrow.

- The Conservatives are considering a scheme to give new mothers dedicated maternity nurses in their homes for up to six hours a day in the first week of their babies' lives.

The proposal, based on a system operating in the Netherlands, would give new mothers someone to turn to for help with breastfeeding and bathing and allow close monitoring of the child's development.

Cameron has asked the shadow children's secretary, Michael Gove, and the shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, to travel to Holland to observe the scheme in action.

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