Skipper

It's quite interesting to note the evolution of David Cameron as he tracks his course to a putative premiership. He began with a massive swing to the centre and left to rid his party of the 'nasty' image, much as Blair swung away from Old Labour's preoccupations in the mid nineties. Having been a loyal Thatcherite apparatchik to that point-even to the extent of being entrusted with writing the 2005 manifesto- this might have, and did raise a few Tebbitlike eyebrows. But his subsequent aping of the Blair twelve point route to Number 10 has not seriously deviated.

Now we see that, despite his recent attempt to reconnect with Maggie, Dave has decided stick with Blair, at least as far as the shiny surface is concerned. So we see the casual pics of him-slacks, open-necked shirt- holding a mug of tea. What could be more natural? Then it's the emphasis on Samantha- Tony tried that with Cherie, but it kind of backfired. Don't rule out the possibility that a woman from a toff background might also get on the wrong side of the tabloids, though I agree, she isn't as likely to as the Blair spouse. Stand by to be made thoroughly nauseous by endless gushing tributes to 'Sam' if you have not already.

However, one aspect of his Blair-alike behaviour which I rather admire is his decision to send his kids to state schools. Among high earning families, this is such a touchstone of their rightful 'belonging' to the elite, it must have been hard to resist- I note that George Osborne, gracefully or otherwise, gave up the unequal struggle. As the children grow up, I'll be interested to see if his resolution holds out- recall, it didn't quite for Tony.