The curse of being the Next Big Thing  

I almost feel sorry for the Tory Ten in Tatler. Great to get the profile, of course, but there’s no greater curse in politics than being tipped as the Next Big Thing. And the spread even assigns them all Cabinet positions (“tipped as a future Chancellor of the Exchequer” etc).

The media mood has swung – see The Guardian’s leader the other day – and there’s a huge appetite to crown a new establishment. The media loves heroes, especially new ones, just as it loved villains in the Hague/IDS era.

But this swing of the pendulum brings mixed blessings. The public don’t like feeling that their vote is being taken for granted, and picking up these publications – where ten Tories seemingly pose as the next Cabinet before they’ve even been elected to parliament – will look like premature triumphalism.

I don’t blame the candidates, raising the profile with a Tatler magazine interview is pivotal to getting elected.