In the White House Rose Garden yesterday, President George W. Bush was confronted with the sort of question that 10 months ago, upon his re-election, would have made people gulp in astonishment. "Are you still a conservative?" he was asked.

The president replied jauntily: "Proudly so." But, after five years of opinion polls showing that he has been the most divisive and partisan of presidents - garnering 15 per cent approval from Democrats, compared with more than 80 per cent from Republicans - the challenge is newly pertinent in Washington.